Lacrimosa
by The Karnstein
Summary: As a widow, her life was nothing but one sad day after another. One day, she decided to put that life behind her and build towards something else. And she didn't know what life was going to throw at her when she stepped into Meridian. COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

**Lacrimosa**

_Author's Note: Taking a small break from my Hellboy fanfiction, and decided to get Holly involved in a Legacy of Kain fanfiction this time around. It has been a very long while since I've written a decent Legacy of Kain fanfic, and I suppose I could try again now. Please read and review, even if you have nothing nice to say._

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If he were alive today, this would have been their thirty-fourth anniversary. They would have been in some warm, comfortable room, celebrating with their daughters during the day, and making love at night. No work to be done, no inventions to be made. Just twenty-four hours of bliss.

Instead, Holly was knelt down at his grave in this misty cemetary, laying a rose on the tombstone. She ran her pale hand over the stone, waited there for a moment, then rose to her feet. She had married Vladmir Angela in the summer she turned fifteen. Times were very different then, and girls married young. By the time she was that age, she was already considered a grown woman, and it was expected of her to be married off. She remembered being so nervous about it, but at the same time she remembered feeling excited. She remembered worrying that she may not come to love him, and realized just how fortunate she was that she was able to do so. He was a good man, and a good father. He had given her twenty-six years of happiness, but like all things in Nosgoth, it only ended in blood.

She remembered the day she heard the horses approaching her home. When she saw the banners of the Sarafan from outside of her window, coming closer. When she stepped onto the porch, she was met by a young Sarafan warrior, removing his helmet and looking upon her wtih the saddest eyes. She looked confused for only a second before her eyes fell upon the carriage behind the horses, and the coffin that laid upon it.

Killed in battle. Impaled six times through the chest and stomach. Every ounce of blood completely drained from his body. The vampires had ambushed him, killed him, and fed on him like the parasites they were.

That day changed everything. Holly already had her two daughters at that time: Magdalena was fourteen and Lilianna was only eight. She had two heartbroken daughters at her side, and a broken heart that took it's precious time dying a slow death. There was no father figure. There was no man in the house. There was nobody there to support her. For many years, a void that had taken the place of Vladmir had formed and grew within their home. For many years, the Angela family felt nothing but sorrow and sadness.

Now, some eight years later, her daughters were grown, and had families of their own, there was really nothing else left in Holly's life. Her big house was now quiet and empty. There were no more sounds of happy children and little running feet. The scent of her husband in their bed and on her pillow had vanished away, forgotten to her, lost in time. After a few years of living in such isolation, she decided to sell the house. It was something her daughters did not object to. The place had become a mausoleum filled with more sad memories than that of happy ones. And since her daughters had no desire on returning to keep the home in their name, Holly took the liberty of moving to a less-remote location: Meridian.

She was nearing her fiftieth year of life, and already time and grief was taking it's toll on her. Though the extreme pain and sorrow had numbed down, memories of the past and thoughts of what could have been kept her heart sad. Her pale face was beginning to form some lines and wrinkles, her curly blonde hair was beginning to have hints of gray and silver in it. And her body was not as strong and young as it used to be: she was in good shape for a woman her age, yet had gained enough weight to make her somewhat self-conscious. If one thing hadn't failed her yet, it was her mind, and all the things she was able to do when she put her mind to work.

After saying a silent prayer and bidding her deceased husband farewell, and a happy anniversary, she turned away and left the gravesite. She approached the large, steel gates and watched as two Sarafan soldiers opened it for her.

"Be safe tonight, Madam." one said to her.

"There's rumors that a vampire is in this area. Are you positive that you do not wish for us to accompany you home?" the other said.

Holly lowered her head and smiled softly. "You are very kind," she said, pulling the hood of her black cloak over her head. "But I don't live far, and God help the _vampires_ should they run into me. Good night, gentlemen."

She left them behind and continued down a dark street. The Upper City was a much safer haven than anything the Lower City or the Slums had to offer. Fewer vampires roamed these places, and those who did had it on good authority to leave her be. They knew very well where her allegience laid, and knew very well of whom they would upset should any harm befall her.

She made it to the cornor of the cobblestone street before she caught something in her peripheral vision. Her eyes detected movement, though her ears could hear nothing. Holly turned her head to the left, seeing nothing but the dancing flames of the streetlamps. She paused for a moment, then turned away, proceeding down the street. Her senses were on full alert. Just because she was not to be harmed didn't mean that the vampires did not enjoy pressing their luck. And within seconds, her eyes detected yet another hint of movement nearby. With a sigh, Holly stopped moving and crossed her arms.

"Marcus." her tone was very firm, yet not entirely irritated. "The only person I wished to meet on this dark night was my dead husband. You can stop looking for reasons to have your master execute me for treason or conspiracy. Paranoia doesn't suit you."

It was in that event that she felt someone behind her. Due to the amount of tension that was in the air, Holly knew that her pursuer was not happy with her statement.

"It is interesting, _madam_..." he added with much distaste, "That you refer to him as _my_ master, and not _our_ master."

Holly chuckled. "You can read my mind, Marcus. Surely you know why I refer to him as such."

She felt a very cold, gloved hand on her shoulder. The fingertips were dramatically pointed and_ very _sharp. And yet Holly couldn't help but wonder if Marcus kept his nails meticulously cleaned and polished after he was done tearing apart his prey. He certainly seemed to be that type.

"Would you like to know _personally_?" well, he certainly seemed to have read that particular thought. She chuckled a bit.

"Perhaps another time, but as for right now, I would prefer it if you took your hand off of me before my deceased husband grows jealous. And I don't think you would want Vladmir to haunt you." she finally turned away, his hand falling off her shoulder in the process, and looked over the vampire. He was taller than she was, perhaps a few inches over six feet, a very slim body, surprisingly olive-toned skin, and a perfectly bald head. His dark eye sockets and black lips gave off a very glam look to him that Holly had always found quite amusing. Judging by the annoyed expression on his face, he seemed to have known what she was thinking of now.

"Well... since you are to see me home, perhaps we shall leave now?" she asked.

Marcus took a step closer to her, as if measuring her up. The look on his face was nothing short of pure disgust. "It should be made clear," he hissed, "That I do not trust you. Your mind shall always be open for me, at all times. Should I detect even the slightest thought of betrayal, I will personally kill you myself."

Holly looked bored already. "Marcus... if you are done with your dick measuring, I would greatly appreciate it if you start acting like a good boy and take me home." and she gave him a very mischievious smile. "Capice?"

He snarled at her, then turned away. Without missing a beat, he proceeded down the alley into another direction. Since Holly noticed that he did not phase into his invisible form, she took this as a sign for her to follow him. And so she did.


	2. Chapter 2

**Lacrimosa**

_Author's Note: Thanks to LittleVamp for being my only reviewer (apart from Grizz on Deviantart). I was beginning to wonder if I would get any reviews at all. I'm like, "Oh god, it wasn't THAT terrible, was it?" But anyways, here is the next chapter!._

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The sublevels of the Sarafan Keep were a labyrinth of many different rooms and misty halls. While some pathways led to sewer systems and others led to dungeons, one obscure and very narrow hallway lead to Holly's workshop. The room was large in size and was divided into halves: one half took on the appearance of some kind of laboratory, while the other half was decorated with dummies and targets. Climbing along the walls and ceiling was a gold pipe, connected to a switch. The switch was on at all times, for it created a Ward Gate over the entrance to the workshop.

Holly often prided herself on the invention. While the Glyphwrights operated and invented the use of Glyph Energy, it was Holly who helped them channel it through her pipelines and switches. Her invention had become so successful that the Sarafan took this opportunity to activate the ward gates on restricted areas in Nosgoth. They were easy to operate: while the Glyphwrights were the only ones capable of creating the Glyph energy, the humans could easily use wheels and switches to change pathways, shutdown the gates, and be in complete control at all times. This invention had earned Holly not only a fair share of wealth, but had also earned her respect from her superiors. The Sarafan provided her with her own quarters and work station in the Sarafan Keep, where she worked very long hours devoting her life to helping the warriors destroy the vampire plague.

This evening, she was creating a blueprint for a weapon upgrade. Though swords and crossbows seemed to work well enough, she was in the process of designing something better. Cannons had been invented, but were mostly used on ships, or as a long-range weapon to be placed behind the barracks. She wanted to invent a sort of hand-held cannon: one that a Sarafan soldier could hold in both arms, load with perhaps smaller cannons, and work more as an offensive weapon as oppose to a defensive one. She also was interesting in the concept of using a weapon to shoot large flames, much like a dragon. There were also ideas of converting the glyph energy used in the ward gates into projectiles that could be fired at enemy vampires. But how to make it operate... that was the biggest puzzle of all.

Holly sat at her desk, a pair of half-moon glasses resting on the brim of her nose as she looked over her notes. Her employer would hopefully be impressed with these new designs. She had only seen him once. He had asked to see her when he heard of her invention of the Glyph energy pipelines, and she was brought to this very keep to see him. In all honesty, she hoped that it would be the last time she would ever have to see him. Here she was expecting some ambitious old man, and what she got was the face of a monster. Flaming green eyes, rotting, brown skin, very large teeth, and the voice of a demon. Part of her couldn't believe that this creature was so welcomed and respected among the Sarafan soldiers. If they found the vampires as monstrous, how could they possibly not look upon him as such?

She had kept her thoughts to herself, refusing to comment on his appearance or how he had managed to intimidate her. He was interested in her work, wished to use her invention, and offered her a position in this keep. Being that she came from a small house in the Lower City who could barely pay her rent, this new job and home was something that Holly jumped at. She could work for this creature as long as she had a place to stay and food to eat. So far she seemed to be on his good side, mostly by helping the Glyphwrights and soldiers to create ward gates and other barriers. The Glyph energy was also used to power electricity and many of the machines in the rest of the city. At first, creating these barriers and pipelines were more than satisfying for her employer, and then she turned her mind to enhancing armor for Sarafan soldiers. Though she did not invent the armor for the Glyph Knights, it was her idea to use the glyph energy as a signal for vampiric activity to alert the guards. The Glyphwrights constructed the armor, and when they became a success, Holly earned a small profit for her efforts.

All seemed to be going well, but then The Sarafan Lord began to question her about weapon designs. Wanting to keep her job and her home, Holly began to convert towards designing weapons. She often found herself running back and forth to the keep's blacksmith, providing him with equations and ideas for him to work with. Her hours had grown longer than she would have liked, but at least the work was getting done.

Holly looked up from the notes and eyed the clock. She had overworked herself. Her shift ended an hour ago. With a tired sigh, she placed the notes into a file and stored it away. Her glasses were removed and placed in a small pocket on her robes, and she proceeded out of her workshop, closing the door behind her and leaving the ward gate on at all times. Marcus could press his luck on her at any other time, but when it came to her work, she was happy the ward gate could keep him out. And if he so much as charmed a human into entering her laboratory without her permission, he would regret it.

She took a lift to the main hall, rubbing the sleep from her eyes before she stepped out of the elevator. It had been a very long night. She needed a few long hours of sleep and relaxation. She moved through the hallways, making her way to her quarters and seeing the green haze of her ward gate glowing over her door. It was one of the few ward gates in this estate. While most of the gates blocked the entry to classified areas rather than the bedrooms of the inhabitants, Holly made sure that her home and her laboratory were protected at all times. As she was the inventor of the pipelines, she was entitled.

Her hand passed through the green barrier, remaining unharmed by the effects, and she pushed the door open. As she slipped inside, she closed and locked it behind her. Even though the vampires could not penetrate the barrier, humans were more than capable of doing so. And Holly did enjoy her privacy.

Before she was able to lay down on her bed, that was when she found an envelope laying on the desk. She recognized the insignia on the seal, frowned, and tore the envelope open.

The message was very straightforward:  
_**Emergency in the Industrial Quarter. You are to meet with Sebastian. Bring whatever equipment you need and come immediately.**_

"Damn it," Holly cursed, giving a very loud, tired yawn. "Don't they realize that I'll work better if they let me rest awhile?"

The idea of meeting with Sebastian, yet another pet vampire of her employer, was nothing she was looking forward to either. She wasn't sure if it was because she had little respect for a creature who turned against his own kind for selfish purposes, or if it was because she could not stand to listen to that shrilly voice.

With an exhausted groan, Holly moved to one of the cupboards in her living quarters. She pulled out a tablespoon and a very large bottle of honey. After managing to fill the tablespoon to the point of overflowing, Holly swallowed the sticky, sweet substance and then put it away. Honey was pure energy, and lord knows she was going to need it for tonight. She grabbed her cloak and with another groan, proceeded back to her lab.

"I wonder what kind of emergency it is anyways..."


	3. Chapter 3

**Lacrimosa**

_"You do not want to trust this one."_

"What makes you assume that I would?"

_"Just keep your guard up around her, Sebastian."_

Shouts and mechanical sounds filled the entire Industrial Quarter. It was a place where one would have to yell instead of talk in order to be heard. The workers of this grimy place would have died of shock or laughter if they knew one of the men among them could actually hear a whisper in this place. And here, another loyal pet vampire of the Sarafan Lord waited within a gondola that would take him to the subterranean factories. His head was lowered, hands together as if in some state of prayer or meditation, and a faint, white glow covered his body.

He was ordered to wait for that woman. He was to be her guide in this potentially dangerous place, and ensure her safe return to the Sarafan Stronghold. Marcus had contacted him just as he reached the gondola to await the human's arrival. The tone in his comrade's voice was deathly serious, if not entirely spiteful. Though Sebastian should have heeded the vampire's warning, he could not help but smirk.

"My, my, Marcus... she certainly has you riled." Sebastian chuckled and crossed his arms. "Is she potentially dangerous or have you simply noticed any unflattering thoughts she may have about you?"

As expected, there was a snarl, and then Marcus spoke again. _"Do not insult me, Sebastian. This is not a matter of pride. If you do not watch your back around her, you will regret it. I know this."_

"Very well, then." Was the reply, though Sebastian was too amused with his comrade's annoyance to take anything seriously. His pointed ears twitched slightly, detecting a noise approaching him, and the vampire lifted his head. "Now, if you don't mind, I believe your wicked little witch is coming my way. Good night."

"_Watch her, Sebastian…" were Marcus' final words to him before all became silent. The white glow vanished from Sebastian's body and he regained his composure._

Following two Sarafan glyph knights and a mechanic was Holly. She had dressed more appropriately for this particular location, leaving her dress and robes behind and donning a jacket, a pair of paints, gloves, and boots. Her curly hair was also tied in a messy low ponytail, and slung over her shoulders was a large bag of equipment. The expression on her face, though not entirely fatigued, was not pleased in the least.

"You are Sebastian, then?" she asked him.

"Indeed I am, madam." Was his reply.

Then she did something unexpected. She shrugged the bag off of her shoulder so that she was holding it in her arms. Then, with an interesting display of strength for a woman her age and size, she threw the bag into his chest. A reflex made Sebastian catch it. Because of his unnatural strength, he did not budge from his place despite the weight of the bag. Holly then stepped pass him, entering the Gondola.

"Then be a dear and carry a tired old woman's bag while you take me to this emergency." She moved to the opposite side of the gondola, the soldiers following her inside.

Sebastian did the best he could to keep from snarling at her. Or from hitting her in the face. As he imagined, she was not one to trust a vampire to be alone with her. Though these guards could do nothing to harm Sebastian, he felt that their presence was merely to sate her discomfort. Or perhaps send him a message that she had no real respect for him.

As if throwing this heavy bag at him wasn't proof enough of that. So this was what Marcus was speaking of.

Fortunately, the gondola ride was very brief. Before Sebastian could move, Holly was already in a hurry to get off, and the guards followed after her. However, no sooner did he step off the gondola, he dropped her bag onto the floor. Holly, hearing her equipment collapse, turned around and glanced at the bag. Then she lifted her head, seeing Sebastian's firm and clearly not intimidated expression.

So Holly placed her hands on her hips, imitated his expression, and spoke again.

"Pick it up."

She took some pleasure in seeing the cornor of Sebastian's mouth twitch. When he could form words, his lips parted. "_What…"_ he said with much venom in his voice, "Did you just say to me?"

Holly took one step forward. "I believe, with your unnatural ability to hear, that you heard me."

Sebastian's eyes narrowed. He also took a step towards her. "I couldn't hear you from all the way over here." He followed that up by stepping over her bag.

So Holly took another step towards him. "Then I shall enlighten you." She stopped only a foot away from him. "_Pick up…"_ she said, enunciating every syllable with much emphasis, "_the bag_."

Sebastian towered over her by two feet. His steely eyes bore into hers, and yet she kept eye contact with him. Out of irritation, one clawed hand moved towards her arm.

"I don't believe that you have the authority to tell me what to do, _madam_."

She felt his claws brushing against her shoulder. And Holly smirked at him.

"No. But I'll tell you what I do have." She said, crossing her arms. "I have experience in a field that you know nothing about, otherwise I would not be here to solve your master's _emergency_." Though Sebastian was no doubt centuries older than Holly, she spoke to him as she would an arrogant teenager. Clearly something she had done in the past. "And we both know that your master, my employer, will be very unhappy to hear that his emergency was not solved because his big, strong, pet vampire refused to help a tired old woman, _who has been working for twelve hours with no rest_, with her heavy equipment."

Just to make this more uncomfortable than it already was, she shifted her weight forward, so she was just a few inches closer to him then he would have wanted. "Now… pick up the bag."

Without waiting for his retort, Holly turned away from him on her heel and walked pass the two very nervous knights. While she continued on her way, the knights glanced at Sebastian, seeing him glare daggers at the bag of the woman's head, all his intentions clearly murderous. The knights, having been charged with her protection, moved towards the bag on the ground and picked it up into their arms. They knew it wouldn't be wise to hurt Sebastian's pride any further by making him carry the bag. With another low growl in the pit of his throat, Sebastian moved after the trio, his eyes still fixed on the back of Holly's head the entire time. Within a few moments, his pace quickened and he moved pass her, leading the way to this emergency.

The underground facility was a labyrinth of caverns and collapsed mines. Tremors shook the underground world and machines were malfunctioning left and right. And as they drew closer to the source of the emergency, the ground seemed to be trembling more frequently. The group made it to a large, circular room. Inside was a small team operating the equipment all around her, and occasionally a jet of steam was released from the vents in this place. Holly made an effort to stay away from the steam at all costs after seeing one of the men get a little too close to it.

"I'm here." She said, adjusting her gloves and approaching the group. "What's the problem?"

The men turned to see Holly approaching them, and the glyph knights lowered her equipment at her feet. Within the hands of one of the scientists was a large, blue stone. Holly rose an eyebrow and looked it over.

"Pretty." She said, "But what does it do?"

"That is confidential, madam. You were called here only because our lord said you know of a way to protect it." Was the reply.

"Hm…" Holly's hand extended and she brushed her fingertips across the smooth surface of the stone. "Well it must be something important if your lord ordered me here so late at night. What do you need? A ward gate?"

"Not exactly, ma'am." The man said. "We need you to construct a membrane… a barrier of some sort, to keep it in place and high out of reach. There is no need for a ward gate here."

Holly rose her eyebrows. If it was something important than a ward gate would most definitely be in order. "Is this something that would be potentially dangerous in the hands of an enemy?" she asked.

"We cannot tell you, madam." Was that response again.

Holly groaned. Her patience was wearing thin. "Well then… I best get to work and hope that when I leave here that this lingering suspicion I have fades away."

Sebastian watched over her with a stony expression as she reached into her bag and proceeded to work on the membrane. The team was lifted off of the ground by a rising pedestal and his vision was obscured. To get a better glance, the vampire retreated towards the room surrounding the chamber and watched the team work from there.

It took a total of five hours for the work to be completed. By the end of this session, the team was celebrating over the creation of a membrane that kept the stone hovering above the pedestal, and Holly was on the brink of collapse. She knew that she needed sleep if she was to carry on her work. When the pedestal lowered, one Sarafan soldier carried her equipment while the other provided Holly with some assistance. Dark rings were forming under her eyes and sweat dripped from her forehead and chin. If she didn't know that she had a long way to go before returning to the Sarafan Stronghold, she would have fallen asleep right then and there.

Sebastian lowered into the chamber, walking ahead of the group to lead them out of this place. As the doors closed behind them, Holly was certain that she heard something that sounded very much like an electrical charge from within that chamber. She lifted her head and looked behind her. Though she could see nothing but the door, she couldn't shake this feeling that something was going to go very wrong. Though she would have been more than happy to return to her bed and sleep for a few good long hours, it felt as though she was leaving something important behind her.

Yet they continued to walk in the other direction, and it was only until the door was out of her vision that she looked away from it.

"_Vampire!"_

Sebastian stopped in his tracks and made an about-face. The soldier holding Holly's equipment dropped her bag and unsheathed his sword, while the one holding Holly leaned her against the wall and stood infront of her, ready to defend the woman at all costs. Sebastian took a few steps forward and snickered.

"Ah yes… and which little pet did Vorador send us today?" he grinned, whipping back his cape and standing his ground.

Within the dark walls of the hall, Holly saw what looked like a faint, violet flash. There were footsteps and the sound of many running feet. And after a moment, she heard Sebastian hiss, then leap into the air. Everything happened so quickly that she could not process it, but in one moment, Sebastian had left the scene, taking off in a flash of red light, and within moments she heard a woman's scream. Holly pushed herself off of the wall and attempted to move towards the noise, only to have the Sarafan block her path.

"Don't go closer, madam!" the soldier said over another pained scream.

She was too tired to argue with him, yet did peer over his shoulder at the scene before her. For a moment her face paled at what she saw, and then her eyes were steely.

Sebastian was ontop of a female vampire in a violet attire. He was gripping her hair with one clawed hand and with the other was punching and clawing at her face, throat, and chest. Blood splattered against the floor at the walls and the woman was frantically clawing back at him. Because of Sebastian's armor, the claws did nothing more than click against the steel, and he ended her struggling with one very strong punch to the side of her head. The female vampire went limp on the ground, and Holly's teeth dug into her bottom lip.

It wasn't so much that she had any respect towards the vampires. Though seeing one beat down one of his own kind was no better than seeing two Sarafan soldiers fighting to the death over some trivial matter. And when Sebastian glanced over and saw Holly watching the scene, she knew, in her heart, that he had sent a message to her as well.

Don't cross me, or I will show you no mercy.

Sebastian chuckled, then glanced back down at the unconscious vampire. "Hm… well if it isn't his favorite? Perhaps sudden death won't be in order after all… perhaps Vorador would like to see his prized lieutenant public executed, as he once was."

Holly's eyes fell back on the female vampire. Because vampires aged very slowly, her appearance was very young. She looked no older than Magdalena, her eldest child. Though the wounds were already beginning to close, yet that did not improve her battered and bloody face. When Sebastian moved to her, she caught a look in his eye. It was an amused one, as if he knew that he had got to her on some level.

Holly clenched a fist and glared at the ground. She was tired. She knew that if she turned around and punched this monster, she would not only break her hand, but would definitely be too weak to try and defend herself. And this time he might not have so much restraint.

"Come now, my lady…" the soldier before her side, moving an arm around her shoulders. They turned around and he guiding her away from the soldiers as they restrained the fallen vampire.

To take her mind off of anything that would upset her to the point of wanting to attack Sebastian, she muttered under her breath,

"Hopefully _now_ they'll get that ward gate…"


	4. Chapter 4

**Lacrimosa**

_Author's Note: Thanks for all of the reviews and favorites! I'm very happy that you are enjoying the story. I hope you enjoy this new chapter._

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"Evenin', Mrs. Angela." said the tapster as Holly took her seat at the bar. "It's been a long while since we've seen you! They aren't keeping you too busy, are they?"

It had been three days since the incident in the Industrial Quarter. By that time, Holly had not only managed to get some rest, but also had enough work done to earn her a few days off. The Red Raven was a shady little place in the Lower City of Meridian. Though the food was overall unsatisfying, the drinks and the company was more than enough to make Holly return on her break. It also helped that this was the only pub in Meridian where the residents did not judge her for smoking indoors.

Holly smiled at the tapster and took her seat. "Oh, if they are, I'm the one who's been asking for it." she chuckled. "There's been a lot of my mind lately, it's been slowing down my work."

The tapster filled a pint of ale and slid it over to Holly. "Poor dear," she shook her head. "It's that time of the year again, isn't it?"

After taking a sip, Holly rose an eyebrow at the lady. "Hm... how could you tell?"

"Well for one, darling, you're wearing your wedding band. And you've seemed to be fancying darker clothes, lately. And you have such a grim look in your eye. It doesn't take much for an old friend to know when her girl is feeling blue."

Indeed, the wedding band. Holly sighed and glanced down at it. It was nothing more than a white gold ring, but still it meant so much to her. It was dark in the pub, yet this simple piece of jewelry seemed to shine. Almost immediately her mind was filled with thoughts of the past: her wedding day, the birth of her children, the life they used to live in that big house outside of Meridian. Holly sighed again, shaking her head slowly and returning to reality. After taking a small drink, she addressed the tapster again.

"Mind if I smoke?" she asked.

"Oh honey, you know you don't have to ask! Nobody in here cares what you do!" was the response. Holly chuckled and slipped out a cigarello and a lighter from her coat pocket. She placed the cigarello to her lips and lit it, inhaling then exhaling the smoke before allowing herself to relax.

"Yes, it's always hard this time of year...it doesn't hurt quite as badly as it used to, but still..." it was beginning to bother her that she came to this bar to relax, and yet all she was doing was depressing herself. Her eyes fell back on the pint of ale and she made a face at her reflection on the glass. Nobody liked a sad drunk. It would be better if they moved onto another topic. The tapster seemed to have noticed this.

"Have you heard from your little girls? How are their families doing?" she asked.

Holly chuckled. Her daughters certainly weren't "little girls" anymore according to the news she had recently received. "Magdalena is going to have another baby. Her third one. And Lilianna wrote to me the other day. Her little boy is learning how to walk."

Immediately the tapster was overcome with excitement. Holly actually couldn't help but laugh at the older woman, cheering and clapping her hands at the good news. The tapster quickly poured herself a drink and clicked glasses with Holly, and the two took a nice long drink together. Yes, bringing up her children was certainly a good way to lift the mood. If Holly was proud of anything, it was her girls. They had families and homes, they had given her grandchildren. Not a day went by where Holly was not entirely grateful that she had lived long enough to see her girls have their babies. The feeling was magical.

The beer sessions continued for more than a half hour when the door to the pub swung open. Immediately, the Tapster's face paled and any happiness she had a moment ago was completely drained from her face. Holly's eyes widened, and immediately her small hand moved into her robes. Her fingers brushed over the hilt of a small throwing knife, but she did not draw it yet. It was best not to react so quickly. She didn't know who had entered the room and did not turn to face whomever it was. The Tapster's eyes fell onto her face, seeing the look of tension in Holly's eyes. She tilted her head to the side, and Holly took the hint. Very casually, she rose out of her chair, leaving her money on the table, and then carefully moved across the room. The conversation between this unknown guest and the Tapster must have begun when she was out of hearing range. For Holly, that wasn't entirely too far.

"...I bloody _hate_ getting old..." she muttered to herself.

Years of marriage to a Sarafan soldier had made Holly very aware of what to do in situations like these. She was not to draw any unnessisary attention to herself. She was to appear unknowing of what may happen, and yet have her guard up at all times. And although the Sarafan did not approve of civillians being armed at all times, it was a law Holly felt no guilt over breaking. These were dark times, and she would be damned if she was going to be the only unarmed person in a room full of troublemakers. Very carefully, she lowered herself into a seat at a table near the back of the room. She picked up a menu, slipping on her half-moon glasses to read the contents, but peered over the pages.

Her eyes widened and she kept herself from gasping, or making any sound that would indicate shock or fear.

Standing before the Tapster was a very tall, very pale man. His skin was as white as a corpse, his hair even whiter, and yet his body was young and strong. His attire was very unlike any clothing a Nosgothian man would wear in public, and the gauntlets on his forearms gave him a mark of a warrior. Living with the Sarafan for all these years allowed Holly to recognize a vampire when she saw one. However, she was not expecting to see the one depicting in the massive painting in the Sarafan Keep. The battle from 200 years ago. The Sarafan against the vampires, the defeat of the great vampire general.

_Kain._

Holly glanced back at the Tapster. She looked frightened. With every word the vampire said, she only reacted with more fear. She was trembling, moving from side to side, her mouth moving quickly. And immediately Holly's eyes narrowed.

If there was one thing Vladmir had taught her, it was how to spot a snitch when she saw one.

The conversation was brief, and after a moment the vampire exited the pub. When Holly was confident he was gone, she rose from her table and rushed over to the Tapster. A look of fury was in her eyes.

"What did you say to him?" she demanded, her voice low but intimidating.

"I... I told him nothing...! He asked for directions, and-"

At this, Holly's hand lashed out and grabbed the Tapster roughly by the arm, pulling her towards her. "We have been friends. I have trusted you with my thoughts and feelings, and you are going to stand here and lie to my face over a _vampire?_"

The Tapster looked horrified, perhaps even ashamed. There was an intensity in Holly's voice and eyes, and yet out of some kindness in her heart, she had decided to keep this conversation quiet. If the wrong ears heard this conversation, it would mean the end for this woman and her establishment. After a moment, Holly released her hold on the Tapster, and the lady spoke again.

"...I heard a voice. It was dark, I could not see anything. It told me to give him a message. That is the truth... please Holly, it is the truth..." she whispered, and Holly stepped back.

"...Where is he going?" she asked. The Tapster shook her head. Holly's eyes narrowed again.

"I swear to you, I don't know where he is going! I know he must enter the worker's area to get to wherever it is he must go, but that's it... don't tell me you are going to follow him!" the Tapster pleaded when Holly began to turn away.

"...There is a vampire in Meridian. That means the security should be doubled in the Lower City. If I go now, maybe I can stop him." she said, only to hear the Tapster rushing to her.

"Holly, don't do this!" she cried, grabbing the woman's forearm. "I looked him in his eyes and I saw no pity. I saw no mercy. If you cross him he will kill you! I know this!"

Holly responded by tearing her arm from the woman. "You looked a monster in the eye and decided to aide him. I have too much love and respect for Vladmir to allow this monster the freedom to do as he pleases." she said, then glared back at the Tapster. "...Be happy that I do not inform the guards about this."

Without another word, Holly exited the Red Raven. The vampire was already gone, and on the move. She spotted a large ward gate nearby, and froze when she saw the bodies of two Sarafan soldiers laying there. In a hurry, she rushed to them and knelt down beside the bodies. Large gashes across the face and throat, yet there was no trace of blood within the body. Holly's eyes narrowed, and then she rose to her feet. She walked through the Ward Gate, keeping her eyes open and her senses sharp as she moved, and eventually found another warrior.

"Madam Angela..." he greeted, saluting her. "What troubles you?"

Holly inhaled deeply, then opened her mouth to speak. "...Send a message to the men posted in the Upper City. Even inform Marcus if you find it appropriate. I have seen the vampire, Kain. He is here..."


	5. Chapter 5

**Lacrimosa**

She did all that she could do. The moment she dropped his name, the Sarafan immediately took action. Within minutes, the security had increased in the Lower and Upper Cities. Ward gates went up, more Sarafan Knights were on duty, and everybody was on their guard. Because of the severity of this situation, Holly was escorted back to the Sarafan Keep. Her guides took it upon themselves to interrogate her about the situation, and Holly stayed true to her word: she said nothing about the Tapster's involvement in this ordeal. She gave only details about the creature she saw.

"Six-foot five," she described. "Give or take, he was very tall. And his skin and hair were both white, and I mean that literally. This man was not pale, but _white_." she went on to describe his clothing and armor, could not recall if he was carrying a weapon or not, and when asked where she saw him, she only named the street. There was no need to mention the Red Raven, though the thought did cross her mind.

_I truly hope that this will not come back to bite me. In the literal sense as well._

Here she was now, in the safety of her room. Holly sat on the bed, her hands folded on her lap, eyes focusing entirely on her wedding ring. Her thoughts did not go back to memories of her family, but instead focused on these current events. First a vampire had infiltrated a stone: an artifact so important that Holly was trusted with it's protection, but not with it's purpose. Now, she caught a glimpse of the vampire that was rumored to have been defeated and killed over two hundred years ago. This could only mean trouble. Though she wanted to believe that the Sarafan would be strong enough to fight back these monsters, she couldn't help but feel some sense of impending doom.

_A storm is coming, isn't it?_

She remained silent and still for an indefinite amount of time before their came a knock on her door. Holly smoothed some of her curly hair out of her face to make herself look presentable, then opened the door. She wasn't all that surprised to see a Sarafan soldier standing on the other side with a letter in his hand.

"Urgent news from our Lord." He said, handing her the envelope.

Holly couldn't help but flinch at "_our_ Lord," yet decided not to comment on the matter. She took the envelope and opened it.

_**Report to the rooftop. A ward gate is needed for the cell.**_

But of course. The vampire from the Industrial District was no doubt going to be transferred to that cell. Because Holly's workshop was located in the sublevels, she could hear almost everything that was taking place in the dungeons. That vampire was being tortured for information that she clearly was refusing to give, and perhaps took the liberty of killing some of the prisoners and prison guards during her struggles. Moving her to that cell on the roof would be an effort to isolate her before her execution. Though Holly couldn't help but feel some level of pity for the creature (the sounds she had heard were simply barbaric), she couldn't help but feel relief as well. At least now she could work in peace without such disturbance.

"Very well," she said to the guard, then placed her hand on the door. "I will gather my things and will be out in a moment. Wait one second, please."

Before he could get a word out, she closed the door. It took her a few minutes to gather her tools and equipment, and then the door swung open. Immediately, she pushed her heavy bag into his arms, succeeding in taking him by surprise yet again.

"Carry those for me, thank you." She said very quickly, then moved ahead of him. Unsure of what else to do, the knight followed after her.

The two proceeded throughout the Sarafan Keep and made it to the lift. After seeing the determined look on Holly's face and the soldier hauling her heavy toolbag, the nobles made an effort to clear a path for the two. They knew exactly why these two were in such a hurry. In the back of Holly's mind, she wondered if they also heard those terrible screams from the vampire's interrogation and torture. She also wondered how many of them were actually disturbed by it rather than annoyed.

_Not many, I assume_.

The lift took them to the roof, and the two crossed the misty rooftop towards the cell. It was made of stone with two very large iron doors. It looked seemingly impenetrable, and yet Holly couldn't help but notice a very weak looking statue on the side of it. She rose an eyebrow, but decided not to comment on the matter. She noticed the glyph on the left side of the cell and pointed to it, asking the knight to set her equipment down over there. He did so, and then she nodded.

"Alright then. Thank you for your help, now you can go." She said, then began to open her bag.

"Go?" the soldier sounded stunned again.

"Yes please, I work better alone. Fewer distractions that way." Was Holly's response as she dug through her bag, pulling out various tools and equipment.

"Madam, I really must protest. You will be needing my protection out here." He said to her, causing her to chuckle.

"Schoolboy heroics are not very becoming of you, as cute as it is. No, I won't be needing your protection or your company tonight. I am more then capable of taking care of myself. Now please, I have work to do…"

The soldier seemed completely unsure of what to do at that particular moment. She hadn't exactly insulted him, however he did feel a tad bit offended. After a moment of inner debate on what to do, he decided to leave the eccentric older woman to herself and respect her wishes. Holly chuckled, happy to be alone at last, and decided to work on the ward gate. This glyph was one of five: she saw two on either side of the door, and there were probably two within the cell itself. This meant that the entrance would require a ward gate, and the inside would require one as well.

But then she saw how they wanted it designed: two separate channels controlled by a switch. Should the switch be pulled in one direction, the ward gate would be activated on the doors, yet would not be used within the cell. And should the switch be pulled in the opposite direction, the doors would lose their ward gate, and yet the one within the cell would be activated. And Holly could not help but frown at this.

"Now what is the point of that?" she spat. "Ward gates can't effect the human guards, so why go through all of these trouble when they can just have double the amount of security? Ugh… nobody can rely on a man's way of thinking…"

Part of her wanted to send word to the Sarafan Lord himself about how flawed this bloody _brilliant _idea of his truly was. She decided against it for her own sake. She didn't want to risk offending her employer with her sass, and wished to work as indirectly with him as possible. So with a lot of reluctance, she went to work on the oddly designed Ward Gate. It took her three hours to get the outer barrier to work correctly. Then, it was time to work on the one within the cell. She lifted up her tool bag and after making sure to keep the ward gate on the door operated at all times, she moved within the cell.

She nearly dropped her bag the moment she stepped inside.

Before her was the female vampire. Within the cell was a cage with very large, steel bars. The vampire was inside of this cage, chained to the wall with her arms spread apart. Her head was hanging, and Holly saw numerous amounts of cuts, gashes, welts, and bruises across the girl's body. Though the cuts were slowly healing up, Holly did not doubt for a moment that this was entirely Sebastian's doing. Once more, Holly couldn't help but look upon this creature with pity. Still, she couldn't help but notice how this girl looked to be the same age as her own daughter, and to see this kind of brutality against someone who looked so young and fragile was enough to disturb her.

She didn't realize how long she was staring until she noticed the vampire was lifting her head. Strange tattoos covered her face, her lips and eyelids looked naturally dark, and Holly saw a look of exhaustion and helplessness in this woman's face. Holly took a deep breath, then proceeded towards the glyph to start working on it.

"You are with the Sarafan…" the vampire whispered.

Holly wanted to ignore her, but couldn't help but respond as she worked on the glyph. "…Isn't it obvious?"

"Not entirely," was the response. "Very few of your kind dare to show some kind of pity to a vampire."

"Call me sexist," Holly said while she worked, "but not many of _my kind_ are women." She wanted to say "mothers," but decided it would be unwise for a vampire to know too much information about her.

"…Understandable. Human women tend to be more emotional and maternal than males. I suppose that's what makes them easier to persuade-"

"_Manipulate _and_ corrupt_, you mean?" was Holly's very quick response, followed by an interesting choice of curse words. Her hand jerked back from a spark in the glyph, and she brought her fingertips to her mouth. "This damned thing…"

"It is interesting. You are not a glyph wright, and yet you know how to operate these glyphs." The vampire remarked, observing this woman carefully.

"Yes and no," Holly said, returning to her work when her fingers didn't hurt anymore. "I operate the channels and the pipelines. They're my inventions, so I should know a thing or two about them."

"_You_ invented the pipeline networks?"

Holly looked over her shoulder, and the vampire's expression was every bit as surprised as her tone was. "Is it really that hard to believe?"

There was a long moment, and then the vampire's eyes went from stunned to spiteful. "No… I suppose it isn't. You can sit there and speak to me so casually while you bring me closer to my doom. Surely you must know that this ward gate you're helping to create will keep me here until they are ready to dispose of me. Surely someone such as yourself would relish in trapping and containing my kind in Meridian."

In the middle of her work, Holly threw down her tools and rose to her feet, approaching the cage. "And am I to believe that you and your kind would offer me any kind of mercy, should I be in your place?" she snapped. "You, who by nature, exist only to kill and feed on humans like some kind of parasite? Should things be the either way, and your kind should have this kind of authority that the Sarafan have, what would become of the humans? You mean to tell me that we would not be contained? Trapped? Slaughtered on sight? Eaten alive or kept as prisoners?" Holly pointed her finger directly at the vampire. "Do not speak to me of cruelty, little girl. You _do_ not want to throw stones at me when you _yourself _dwell in a glass home."

Umah's expression looked quite stunned for a moment. "_Little… girl?"_ there was such venom and confusion in her tone that Holly almost burst into laughter.

The two exchanged glances for a good long while, and then Holly returned to her work. It took her a bit sooner than she expected to construct the ward gate. When it was done, she picked up her tools, shoving them into her bag in a hurry as she headed towards the exit

"…We do to your kind what you do to the plants and animals. It is nature. We do what we must to survive and flourish. Is that really so selfish of us?" she said, causing Holly to stop in her tracks.

"…Then is it so selfish that we do what we must to survive?" Holly said over her shoulder.

"Couldn't the same be said about us?"

Holly remained quiet, then continued to walk out of the cell, closing the doors behind her. She crossed the rooftops and heading in the direction of the elevator. The conversation with the woman replayed over and over in her mind as she continued to adjust the tools in her bag. For as long as she could remember, there was always a war against the vampires. She knew that these monsters would stop at nothing to prey on humans, as was their nature. All her life she looked upon them as demons, and though she was not in favor of their torture and genocide, she knew deep down that life would be much better for the humans if they ceased to be.

She was human. Humans would always come first. Vampires had killed her husband and waged war on her kind. They would forever be her enemy, just as she would forever be their source of nourishment.

Still… she couldn't get that woman's words out of her mind.

"Have a sweet conversation with the prisoner?"

Holly stopped in her tracks and looked positively agitated. If there was one person she was not looking forward to seeing this evening, it was Marcus.

"Shouldn't you be in the Upper City looking for that bloody leech?" Holly snapped.

Immediately, Marcus appeared from the shadows, standing before her. "I find it interesting that you of all people were the only one who found him… and lived to tell the tale."

Holly's eyes narrowed and crossed her arms. "If you imply that I am working with a vampire of my own will, I _will_ slap you."

"Then why did you leave out information about the Tapster, my dear?"

Holly's heart skipped a beat. Marcus was smiling, which meant that he probably saw that very stunned look on her face. Of course, she could keep no secrets from him. He could read her thoughts, he could follow and shadow her every move. And her eyes narrowed.

"You killed her… didn't you?"

"Indeed." Marcus chuckled. "'twas a shame, really. Her blood was so bitter due to her old age. Though I was surprised at how loud I could make her scream…"

Without thinking, Holly swung out with her right arm and struck him across his face. In her hand was a very large, heavy wrench that she had been using to build the pipes. The skin on Marcus' cheekbone split open, and the force from the wrench was strong enough to send three very sharp molars flying out of his mouth. Then without wasting a second, she took off running towards the elevator without looking back to see what was happening. She made it inside the lift, only to hear him calling after her.

"You protected the identity of a member of the Cabal! This is treason! My Lord knows of this, and you will _suffer_ for this!"


	6. Chapter 6

**Lacrimosa**

_Author's Note:__ I want to say a very heartfelt thank you to devilangel123 for your very kind words. That was the nicest thing you could have possibly have said to me, and I am so thankful for it! I'm really happy that you like the story, and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter. Also, lots of thanks to LittleVamp for sticking with the story and having nothing but nice things to say as well. It really means a lot to me, and I hope you'll enjoy the story as well!_

* * *

Her arm and shoulder were so sore today. Apparently she swung that hammer a bit too hard for her own good. She must have pulled a muscle in the process. But despite the discomfort, she had no regret at all. Hitting Marcus was most definitely worth a sore shoulder. The memory replayed in her head while Holly massaged her sore arm, and a chuckle escaped from her.

"And I knocked some teeth out... bet he _loved_ that." she couldn't help but smirk at that.

It took her only a few moments to regain her composure. She realized that she was in trouble, and if the tribunal saw her actions as treacherous, she would be in danger. Or, in the worst-case scenario, her daughters and their families would be at risk as well. If there was one thing that Holly prided herself on, it was her ability to think ahead. Shortly after she had met the Sarafan Lord for the first time, she made an effort to protect her daughters. Letters she sent to them were made in private, and letters they returned to her came with no return-address, and were incinerated shortly after reading them. She advised her girls to do the same to her letters. She did not want this creature to know where they lived, or what the names of their husbands' families were.

It took a great deal of effort for Holly to intentionally forget their addresses, especially when she learned that one of the Sarafan Lord's pet vampires could read minds. Of course this meant that she would stop sending letters to her girls, and isolating herself from them, though necessary, was painful. As of late, she also made an effort to fool herself into believing that there was some sort of argument that had aroused between she and her girls. Something that she disapproved of, or something that they had said to her that caused them to stop speaking all together. Every day, Holly replayed these imaginary arguments in her mind, believing them to be true. It would explain the burned letters, and the fact that she had stopped writing to them. If she didn't come up with this argument, the tribunal (as well as Marcus) would have found her actions suspicious. Perhaps if she believed this anger and spite towards her girls, she could even fool Marcus into believing it was true.

Perhaps if she had thought of that earlier, the Tapster would not have had to die so horribly…

Holly sat in her cell upon a very uncomfortable bed, gathering her thoughts together for her trial. She knew that if she was accused of treason, there was probably going to be nobody to defend her. Attorneys could very well be put to death for treason simply for defending a traitor. It was a mess that nobody wanted to get involved in, and honestly Holly could not blame them. Chances are the attorneys had families of their own to worry about, just as she did. She was going to be on her own, and was going to have to talk her way out of this.

It took at least an hour or so until she heard the footsteps of the guards approaching, and then the door swinging open. She looked up and saw two very big soldiers standing before her. She eyed their armor, noticing that they were Glyph Knights. She actually had to chuckle at that.

"Are you boys going to make sure that Marcus doesn't kill me before the trial?" she couldn't help but laugh. "I didn't know you were so fond of me."

As expected, they said nothing on the matter. Holly shrugged it off and rose to her feet. One guard moved in to touch her arm, but she simply lifted her hand and stopped him.

"There's no need to restrain the old lady, darling." She said to him. "I have my dignity, a vampire who's out to get me, and quite possibly a heart condition. You won't have to worry about me running away."

Though they looked very hard and strong, Holly did hear a baritone noise that sounded similar to that of a big man trying to stifle a laugh. So they weren't made of stone after all. Well, this was certainly a relief. She stepped out of the cell, standing between the knights and made a quick effort to straighten out her black dress and smooth out the frizzy strands in her hair. At least they had allowed her enough time to make herself look presentable before her trial. That showed _some_ consideration.

The three proceeded through the dungeon and passed through one of the ward gates. It led towards an obscure passageway that took them directly to a lift. One guard entered first, Holly following after him, and the third guard following after her. The last one to enter the lift had closed the barred door on the lift, while the first guard flipped the switch. Within moments, they descended towards the subterranean chambers, and Holly felt the temperature drop. She was not entirely sure what had given her the chills: was it the fact that the lower chambers were so cold, or the fact that they were so gloomy?

_Or is it the fact that I'm about to talk myself out of a death sentence or worse?_

When the elevator had stopped, the three moved down the hallway and made it to a large, steel door. The two guards pushed open the doors, holding them open for Holly to enter. After giving both of them a very curt nod, she stepped into the chamber. The room was circular and cold, with dark stone walls. Several torches lined these walls, yet lit the room poorly. Before her were nine tall thrones, all of which resembled the Pillars of Nosgoth before they had crumbled and decayed away. Eight of the thrones seated eight judges, all donned in the finest of armor. In center throne seated the Sarafan Lord.

Holly took a very deep breath as soon as she saw him. All eyes were on her, and she could feel every single one of them upon her. However, her eyes were fixed on that of the Sarafan Lord. Once more, she felt that terrible pang of fear as she did on that day so long ago. Once more she couldn't help but take in those horrible, demonic features and those flaming green eyes. She felt a shiver, then stepped into the center of the room, standing before the judges.

"State the charges." His voice was every bit as chilling as she remembered.

The judge to his left rose from his seat, unrolling a scroll and holding it before him. "Lady Holly Michelle Angela, widow of the late Sir Vladmir Angela, head of the Department of Weapons Development and the Department of Science. Accused of conspiracy to commit high treason against the Sarafan Brotherhood and humanity as we know it. Accused of attacking an ally of the Sarafan Lord. Accused of aiding the vampire resistance known as The Cabal, as well as aiding the vampire known as Kain. How do you plea, Madam?"

Holly lifted her head high, calming her nerves after only a few moments, then spoke. "Not guilty, my lords. I have committed no such crime apart from that of attacking that particular ally, and that I assure you was a crime of passion and not treachery."

"Then shall we begin with that particular charge, my lord?" the judge said, turning to the Sarafan Lord.

He was silent for a moment, his eyes raking over Holly, then nodded his head once. "Proceed."

The judge nodded back, then turned to Holly. "Lady Angela, will you explain to the court what happened in the events of last night?"

Holly nodded, and then began to speak. "I was escorted to the cell on the rooftops to set up the Ward Gates for the prisoner. After I had finished working, I was returning to my room when the vampire Marcus met me in the hallway. He began to provoke me, accusing me of helping the vampire Kain, and confessed that he had killed a friend of mine shortly afterwards. My actions were out of reflex and out of anger, and I hit him with my wrench."

"Will you please retell your story with more detail, Madam?" the judge said, causing Holly to raise an eyebrow.

"Excuse me?" she asked, her tone somewhat confused.

"Marcus states that you were escorted to the cell with a Sarafan soldier…" the judge unrolled another scroll, then began to read aloud. "When you arrived, you had asked him to leave, though it was his orders to remain with you. Marcus also reported that you spent a suspicious amount of time talking to the prisoner while you worked. We also know that the friend of yours that Marcus had killed was in fact aiding the vampire Kain." He lowered the scroll, and then glanced at Holly. "What say you?"

Holly took another deep breath. Her face and body remained calm, and her senses were intact. However, she wanted nothing more than to strangle that paranoid little rat Marcus once she had the chance.

"Let me begin by saying that Marcus' word, despite his Dark Gift, should also be questioned, for the creature's opinion is extremely biased due to his hatred towards me." Before she could continue, another judge spoke.

"You believe Marcus is trying to frame you?" he asked.

Holly turned her head towards the judge. "I believe that Marcus is grasping at straws and is going out of his way to see me dead, simply over a matter of pride."

"What leads you to this belief, Madam?" the judge asked her, and Holly chuckled.

"For one, he found a woman that he could not intimidate or seduce. And then he was angry because, by the Sarafan Lord's orders," her eyes flashed to the leader for a moment before turning back to the judge, "he is not allowed to injure me, or kill me, because of my work. I am led to believe that Marcus also does not approve of my refusal to respect him, since he has shown no such respect towards me, and quite possibly does not approve of my not-so-very-nice thoughts of him." Her eyes scanned the rest of the judges. "Has he shared any of those thoughts with you, my lords?"

"Back to the charges at hand…" the previous judge said, drawing Holly's attention back to him. "Why did you ask the knight to leave you?"

"He will confirm, I am certain, that I work better when I am alone, and do not enjoy having someone watching over my shoulder the entire time." She explained. "If you are implying that I got rid of him simply so I could speak with the prisoner without him listening, I assure you, that is entirely not true."

"We _are_ implying that, Madam." The knight said. "You must know how suspicious this looks."

"Then perhaps," Holly said, keeping her control and holding back the urge to raise her voice, "the cell should have been prepared before the prisoner was transferred into it." She said, then glanced back to the Sarafan Lord. "I was not told that the prisoner was already within the cell when I set off to work. She was just as surprised to see me as I was to see her, and she began to talk to me."

"And what words did she speak?" a third judge spoke this time, and Holly turned to glance at him.

"She was a distraction to my work, as you can see," Holly said, raising her arm and showing a small burn on her finger where the glyph had hurt her the night before. "She was surprised to see that I was part of the Sarafan, and then an argument between the two of us commenced."

"Over what?" another judge asked.

"She dared to accuse me of being cruel." Holly said simply. "I called her out on her hypocrisy."

Nobody commented on this matter. After a moment, the judge with the scroll moved on. "And as for that woman. The friend of yours that was executed. Marcus has it on good authority that you knew this woman helped a vampire, and that you refused to report her for it. What say you to that?"

Holly took a breath. This was the big question. They would not be entirely understanding of the situation. She would have to choose her words very carefully if she were to appeal to them. After a moment, she spoke again.

"My Lords, you all know very well that I am widowed, and that I do not socialize, nor am I on speaking terms with either of my daughters." She said, her face looking quite sad for a moment, yet still in control. "The Tapster was perhaps the only friend I had in this city. I shall tell you the events that have occurred that evening and leave no fact unstated, if you will allow me."

After a collection of nods from the other judges, the Sarafan Lord spoke again. "Proceed."

Holly bowed her head to him, and then spoke again. "I hadn't visited her tavern in a very long time, because I have been so busy. She was sharing a few drinks with me when she saw that I was wearing my wedding ring," unconsciously Holly's hand moved to her ring finger, brushing over the ring. "…Our anniversary was only a few days ago, my lords. This particularly time of the year is especially hard on a widow, more so for one as lonely as I. The Tapster was a friend. Not a close one, not one I knew well, but still one who gave me comfort and happiness during these dark times. I relocated myself when the vampire entered the tavern to speak to her. I could not act hastily, for the bar is located close to the door, and if I were to leave the establishment, he could have caught me within moments. I had to pretend that I did not notice him, and I watched what happened."

Holly could feel the tension in this room. It had increased dramatically within only a few seconds. One wrong word could mean catastrophe. After a moment, she spoke again.

"…When the vampire had left the establishment without killing anybody, I approached the Tapster. I reprimanded her; I scolded her for speaking with him, and for trying to lie to me over the vampire after we had been friends for so long. But I saw the look in her face. She was ashamed of her actions, and she looked so frightened. I don't believe for a second that she would be able to work with a Vampire Resistance. If anything, she might have been threatened into aiding him. But she was able to confess these things to me so easily, and in all honesty she had no idea where he was going or what he was going to do. I did not report her to the Sarafan because, my lords, she was a friend, and I believe that she truly did not intend to betray her Sarafan brothers."

"Nevertheless," one of the judges said. "Whether she was frightened into it or not, this woman was aiding a vampire. This is an act of treason. To protect her as you did is something we cannot simply let go, as you were protecting a traitor."

"Alas, the traitor is dead." Holly's voice had a hint of spite to it, yet she calmed herself. "And as you well know, it was _I _who reported who the vampire was and where he was going immediately after he left the establishment. I doubt this is the normal behavior for a traitor. You should all be aware of the fact that I specifically asked that Marcus be informed about this matter as well, being that the vampire Kain is, I would imagine, more important than a frightened Tapster. And where was Marcus when word of this monster was delivered to him? Was he in the Upper City searching for this enemy? No. Instead, he was here. He was hounding _me_, following _me_, wanting this trial to occur because I simply hurt his pride." Her eyes raked over the judges. "Personally I find this behavior to be quite disturbing, that this creature deems his revenge against me to be more important than finding and destroying our most dangerous of enemies."

There was silence for a moment, and then the judges began to discuss amongst themselves. The entire time, the Sarafan Lord was watching Holly. The woman had been glancing towards the eight other judges before her eyes fell back onto him. It was strange, staring at this creature. She wasn't entirely sure how to read him. The structure of his face made his expressions difficult to read, and she was unsure if her heartfelt story had even phased him at all. After a long moment, one of the judges spoke to the Sarafan Lord in a whisper. Then the Sarafan Lord rose to his feet, staring at the woman and taking a step towards her.

"Before the Tribunal makes the final decision, we must determine whether you are loyal to the Sarafan Brotherhood, or on the contrary…" he spoke. "Answer honestly, for we will know if you speak lies. Where do your loyalties stand?"

Holly's eyes hardened in this instant. She knew for a fact what he was truly asking her without saying it out loud. She never once referred to him as her Lord. She never addressed him as such to other people. She had always viewed him as her employer and nothing more. Now came the final decision. Everything seemed to have been going incredibly well until this moment. If she answered wrong, she was doomed. She felt that with her very being. He was not asking if her loyalty was to the Sarafan Brotherhood. He was asking her if her loyalty was to _him_.

If she answered yes, it would be a lie. And he would know it.

If she answered no, it would be the truth. And she would die for it.

…_So it comes down to this… I fought a good fight, only to find out I'm in a losing battle…_

She closed her eyes, then opened her mouth to speak…

_God help me…_


	7. Chapter 7

**Lacrimosa**

_"...My loyalities are the same as my husband's. I swear my life, honor, and trust upon the Sarafan Brotherhood and the human race, just as he did in his lifetime. He was a proud, valiant soldier who died to defend our land and people, and it is with pride that I continue my work to benefit the Sarafan in their battles, just as he would want me to. My allegiance is to my family and to my Brothers, and I dedicate my life to protect the human race from these demons. I swear upon my soul that every action I take until my very last breath will be to resist the oppressive hand of the vampire, and to aide in perserving the lives and freedoms of human race. I am no traitor, I am no vampire sympathizer. For as long as I shall remain a bountiful winepress in the eyes of the vampire, they shall always remain the enemy in mine."_

- The Trial of Lady Holly Michelle Angela

If it wasn't for the other eight judges, Holly knew she would have died shortly after that trial.

She saw that look in his eyes. That very angry, menacing look that managed to temporarily paralyze her. Not once did she swear any kind of allegience to him. Her confessions were honest and true, and her loyalties were made very clear. And since she had not mentioned him at all in her statement, he knew that she did not pledge her allegience to him. After a moment of silence, the leader tilted his head slightly to the side, not taking his eyes off of Holly, and spoke.

"Have you made your decisions?" he announced to the other judges, and after a collection of nods, he spoke again. "Judges of the Sarafan Tribunal, how do you find the defendant?"

Eight judges had deemed her not guilty. Each one lifted a weight from Holly's shoulders with every statement. And when it came to the final judge, the Sarafan Lord, he said nothing at first. Holly couldn't help but notice that his eyes had become harder, his gaze became more fierce. Though his expressions were difficult to decipher, she knew from that one long look that he was not happy with the result. When the eighth judge had declared her innocence, the Sarafan Lord rose from his throne and approached the woman. Holly felt her stomach do a very slow somersault as his footsteps drew near. She did her very best to keep her eyes from growing too large. Her fingers curled into a pair of very tight fists to fight the urge to tremble when he drew near. And when he stood infront of her, standing at least two and a half feet taller, his eyes boring down into hers, Holly was completely unsure of what to expect.

Then his hand moved onto her shoulder. His grip was firm, perhaps stronger than it ought to be, but he did not injure her.

"...You have been tried, and the Tribunal has declared your innocence." he said to her. "You are free to return to your quarters."

_...Thank God I am not the fainting type. Lord knows I would not want to be unconscious with this man in the same room as me._

Holly bowed her head to him. "Thank you, sir."

After a moment, he removed his hand from her shoulder, and then walked pass her. The judges rose from their thrones to approach the woman, offering her kind words about her husband and reassuring her that Marcus would be dealt with. She couldn't help but feel nothing but fondness towards each of these men. She knew they were the very reason why she was still alive. Part of her had a feeling that these men, all of which knew of her husband and knew of her contributions to the Sarafan, would never take a vampire's word over hers. And yet another part of her knew that if it had been left in the hands of the Sarafan Lord, Holly knew that she would have been dead. She shook their hands as they passed her by, and then she followed them out of the chamber. The two soldiers from before took the liberty of escorting her to her quarters, and almost immediately Holly rushed into the bathroom. She collapsed infront of the toilet and one hand rushed to hold back her hair before she threw up. Her nerves had got the best of her, and she was positively thrilled that there was nobody present to see her in such a state.

It took a few minutes until she finally regained her composure, but even when she cleaned herself off, washed out her mouth, and laid back on her bed, she couldn't help but think about everything that had taken place just now. Her answer had been honest, he would have known if she were lying. He said so himself. So even though she had narrowly escaped death, why was it that she felt as if she had been condemned to an almost worst fate? She took a breath and rolled onto her side, her eyes focusing on the sheets of her bed.

Though she honestly had nothing to hide, Holly knew that the Sarafan Lord was going to be on her case at all times, now. Every thought that passed her mind was already exposed to Marcus, and she knew they would be relayed to the Sarafan Lord. Every move she make, every action she took, was going to be classified as suspicious behavior if she was not careful. She had escaped the death penalty only to end up walking on eggshells. Holly's eyes squeezed tightly and she held back a sob, though it desperately wished to escape her. Her fingers fisted a handful of the sheets, and after a moment she calmed herself.

It was a challenge. It was going to be difficult, but she was a woman of her word. She would continue to do what she did best, and that was to use her inventions to help the humans in Nosgoth. Regardless of how hard it was going to be on her, she had to continue to play her part. More ward gates would have to go up, new weapons would have to be made, and the vampires would have to be stopped at all costs. If her work was going to aid her Sarafan brothers in anyway, she would do her part.

After a very long moment, her eyes fell onto her fingers, and focused on her wedding band. With a sigh, she moved her hand to her chest and rolled onto her back, staring up at the ceiling.

_These times are so dark. Any faith I may have had in the past has either been questioned or destroyed all together. But if thoughts and memories of you will gives me the strength I need to get back on my feet again, then I'll put my faith entirely in you._

She closed her eyes and her other hand slipped over the wedding band.

_...I miss you..._

* * *

"You disappoint me, Marcus."

"My lord, you must know as well as I that this woman is not to be trusted."

"Her loyalties have been made clear to me, Marcus. She has not the slightest bit of trust in me."

"So you know this! And yet, you allow her to live! Why, my lord?"

Within the dungeon, surrounded by the imprisoned traitors and weaklings, stood the Sarafan Lord and his vampire lieutenant. Marcus, having read the thoughts of the judges as they exited the court, was not in the greatest of moods. Of course, leave it to Sarafan judges to allow that human whore to live when her word was against a vampire's. He should have simply killed her when he suspected her of treason, then justified his actions to his lord. It was Marcus who sought out his lord to demand this explanation, and judging by the tone of the Sarafan Lord, he was not in the greatest of moods either.

"Who are you, Marcus, to question my word?" as his voice rose, there was the sound of a weapon being unsheathed. Marcus' eyes widened when he saw the Sarafan Lord holding the Soul Reaver in his grasp, and then point it at him. "Did you honestly think for a moment that I would explain my actions to you? As if you had some kind of authority over _me_?"

Marcus leapt back a few feet in his surprise. The Sarafan Lord's words had struck a nerve. "My Lord! It was not in my interest to offend you!" the words escaped him quickly, and he mentally scolded himself for sounding so weak. "My mental abilities allow me to see within the minds of any I choose, with the exception of you, of course. I see into that woman's mind and I know that ultimately she will bring us trouble."

"Just as you have brought us trouble enough, Marcus?" the Sarfan Lord spat, causing the vampire to flinch.

"Sire?" he gasped as the Sarafan Lord drew near.

"Her loyalties are not to me, where as yours are. The difference between you both is that while she is loyal to her human brothers, she completes her missions and tasks. Everything I have asked of her, she has done. And yet what have _you_ been doing, Marcus? Were you not informed that Kain has returned? Have you even attempted to find and kill him? Tell me, Marcus... what use are you to me if you cannot destroy our greatest of enemies?"

With this, Marcus' eyes narrowed, and his claws clenched into fists. "...He tried to murder me, My Lord. I know he is our enemy, I know it better than you could possibly imagine!"

"And you would know what I imagine, Marcus!?"

With impressive speed, quicker than Marcus had expected, the Sarafan Lord's hand moved towards the robes of the vampire and pulled him close. A flash of fear crossed Marcus' face as the blade of the Soul Reaver pressed against his solarplexus. And yet the Sarafan Lord had not applied the force needed to impale him. Instead, Marcus found himself staring into the fiery eyes of his master. He felt that intense, burning hatred and new that he had stepped out of line once more.

"No more games, Marcus. If you are so cowardly that you would hound some woman and accuse her of betraying us merely so you can avoid confronting Kain, I shall show you what real terror is."

Marcus gasped as he felt the blade being pushed closer against him. The Sarafan Lord chuckled, then held for a moment.

"Now... shall I end this drama here, or shall you make yourself useful and go to the Upper City?"

It took Marcus so long to form a word, but eventually he forced a "Yes" from his lips. With that, the Sarafan Lord released him, then turned away.

"Bring me his head, Marcus. Do not return to the Keep without it."


	8. Chapter 8

**Lacrimosa**

_Author's Note: __Again, saying another thank you to everybody who's stuck with this story and left reviews. I'm really happy that you guys have been enjoying the fanfic and the character. It's been a lot of fun writing this and I'm really flattered by the positive feedback. I hope you'll enjoy this next chapter!_

* * *

Within the highest levels of the Sarafan Keep, beyond several poorly lit hallways, lays the Throne Room. Few of the inhabitants of the Keep have had the opportunity to step into this room, and if they had, they would be appalled at how unglamorous it was. Circular in shape with the throne at the center, and uncomfortably dark despite the lit torches lining the cold, stonewalls. The throne room resembled a dungeon more than anything else. And there, seated on the throne with the Soul Reaver in his grasp, was the Sarafan Lord, his green eyes burning through the misty, cold darkness as his thoughts wandered.

The men clearly loved this woman; at least enough to openly defy their lord in a military tribunal in order to protect her. Perhaps they were sensitive to the memory of her deceased husband, or perhaps it was just their inner instinct to protect their women beginning to surface. Regardless, it was putting him at a disadvantage. To have any damage done to her would perhaps weaken the loyalty the generals had for the Sarafan Lord, since he had foolishly made it no secret that he despised the woman. But would it be wise of him to keep this woman alive knowing that, in the eyes of these human soldiers, she was worth the trouble of betraying a commanding officer?

There was only one commander. And that was the Sarafan Lord. He was in complete control. To have this woman hold some kind of control over the hearts of his soldier was not something he was particularly happy about. She had made no signs that she had any desire to overthrow his rule or betray him, apart from hitting one of his men with a wrench. And even then, the Sarafan soldiers found her outburst justified. Was it their own prejudice towards vampires coming into play, or was this one mechanic truly worth protecting?

Marcus had recently left to join the hunt for Kain. In all honesty, the Sarafan Lord was not expecting his return. Marcus may have matched Kain in his arrogance, but in strength and skill, he knew his pet vampire had been sent to his death. Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise: Marcus, though a clever guard dog, had gradually become useless over the years. A vampire with the psychic ability to charm humans and read the minds of vampires could not locate the sanctuary of the vampire resistance. What use was he if he could not accomplish this with his Dark Gift? Sebastian had proven himself over these past few days. Not only had he succeeded in catching a key member of the Cabal, but the one most precious to Vorador. This victory, however small, would certainly benefit his future plans. When the Cabal is exterminated and Kain is found and destroyed once more, then his plans for Nosgoth will finally be put into motion.

But that mechanic… this was going to be difficult. Unlike the vampires, whom nobody loved or cared to defend, getting rid of her would not be silent and unnoticed. Her inventions had benefited him. He never imagined of all people, a human woman would be the one that would discover the means to transfer and channel Glyph Energy into Ward Gates and security systems. Despite the fact that he had made her uncomfortable and untrusting, she continued to work diligently. But with all the Ward Gates and pipelines set up throughout Nosgoth, fewer vampire infiltrations than ever, perhaps she had outstayed her welcome. Perhaps there was no more use for this particular, troublesome creature. If she was going to distract his servants from their duties and seduce the men into defying him, perhaps it was time to dismiss her.

"Sebastian…" his low voice barely echoed throughout the room. And yet from the surrounding mist, a transparent figure came into form. The vampire glided towards his lord, his blue cape flowing behind him, and then he lowered to one knee before his master.

"Sire…" he said, bowing his head.

"You are to be given a new mission…"

* * *

Exploding ammunition and the smell of smoke and fire lingered in the sublevels. It had been at least three long days since the trial, and Holly had spent every moment of it in her lab, designing new weaponry. Apparently the science required for hand-held cannons wasn't nearly as advanced as she had expected. Naturally she had to dissemble a cannon, observe it's interior, and then put it back together in order to find out how it worked effectively. Then she needed to make the weapon smaller. The prototype she was smaller than a normal cannon, but still big enough that she had to hold it with both hands. It was at least three feet long and came with a crossbow-inspired handle that could be pressed against her shoulder. Like a regular cannon, it came with a wick that needed to be lit, however, the miniature cannonball could only be fired if she pulled the trigger. It had the same speed and power of a regular cannonball, however it was much smaller and did only a fraction of the damage. However, the recoil of the weapon left her shoulder in bruises and completely destroyed her targets.

Her other invention was far more tricky, if only because it required a small supply of oil in order for it to work, and that could be potentially dangerous should the weapon be handled unwisely. The oil would need to be hand-pumped into a three-foot long hose, and at the end of the hose was a lit match. When the oil was forced out of the hose, it would spray a long jet of flames at anything in its path. However, because this was just a prototype, Holly was having issues keeping the equipment in one piece and could not entirely control where the flames could go. There was also the danger of having the flames travel backwards towards the source of the oil and cause an explosion. She had several close calls, some of which resorted in her arm being singed, but she always felt that she was getting closer to a breakthrough with every move she made.

Because of all of her recent troubles, keeping herself busy was the only way that she could guarantee her safety. It kept her mind off of her family, and off of the captive vampire. She hadn't been executed just yet, but the clock was ticking. If anything, the Sarafan were probably trying to torture her into confessing any information before the sentence was carried out. And if that was indeed the case, Holly knew she couldn't risk having her controversial thoughts being read by a certain vampire. It was best to keep her mind entirely on her work and nothing else.

After a good eight hours of work, she had finally decided to call it a day. She cleaned up the lab to the best of her ability and then collapsed into a chair near her desk. Holly lit up a cigarette and pushed it to her lips, trying to relax. It was times like this when she wished she had hired a massage therapist, for this shoulder was aching more than it should have. Perhaps it was the force of the recoil added to her old age. Either way, she figured it was just the price of science.

"Three days without Marcus, a new weapon prototype completed, and another already in production…" Holly said to herself. "Perhaps things are about to look up at last."

This peace, however, lasted for a mere ten minutes. Just as she was beginning to relax completely, a knock came at her door and another Sarafan Soldier greeted her. As always, he provided her with an envelope, and Holly tore it open infront of him.

THE BISHOP OF MERIDIAN HAS BEEN SUSPECTED OF TREASON. SHUT DOWN THE WARD GATES WITHIN HIS MANOR THEN REPORT TO THE INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT IMMEDIATELY.

Holly's eyes went big as she read this, and she lifted her head to look at the soldier. "The Bishop?" she said, gaping at him. "…Was he in league with the Cabal?"

The soldier slowly shook his head. "It was from Marcus' report. He has found the vampire Kain and has read his thoughts. It would seem that Kain is seeking the Bishop for information."

Holly crossed her arms for a moment and then turned away from him. "Excuse me…" she said, disappearing back into her lab.

She crossed the large room and slipped into a smaller chamber, also guarded by a Ward Gate. In this chamber was an entire grid of Meridian. Small glowing orbs indicated where a Ward Gate was located, and how many where in a particular area. After tracking down the location of the Bishop's manor, she moved her hand towards a panel consisting entirely of numbers. She pressed in the numbers, and then pulled a switch on the side of the grid. Within a moment, the orbs stopped glowing within that location.

Holly took a deep breath and felt the sudden weight of regret on her shoulders. His home was now at the mercy of the Sarafan soldiers. If they found anything suspicious, this man was as good as dead. One part of her knew that she should have felt some kind of betrayal. The fact that this old man had turned against his own people for the sake of helping vampires should have been enough to make her hate him. But at the same time, he was an old man, and beloved of the people, and she had just fed him to the wolves. In many respects, his life was in her hands, and she had probably destroyed it with a pull of that switch.

It was not an easy thing for her to feel…

She took another deep breath, and then exited the chamber. She packed her tools and equipment, then returned back to the Sarafan soldier.

"Did he mention why I need to report to the Industrial District?" she asked, but the soldier shook his head.

"I would not know, Madam." He answered honestly. "Perhaps a machine has broken down and needs repairing."

"Perhaps…" Holly sighed. She pushed her bag into his arms and then rubbed her shoulder. "Well then… we best not keep him waiting. Come along…"


	9. Chapter 9

**Lacrimosa**

Everything was just a blur. Nothing had made complete sense at this particular moment. But she was sure of two events: she had arrived at the Industrial Quarter with two Sarafan soldiers, and they were both dead now. Though she had not witnessed their deaths, she was not one to hope for the best in these situations. If they were not with her in this room, if they were no longer in sight, then she knew they were dead. Holly remembered leaving the Sarafan Keep with the two soldiers. Both of which were two of the best men under General Marius, one of the judges at her trial. Though Holly was not one to trust easily, she often prided herself on her ability to read people, and both men did not seem to be the treacherous kind. They seemed to be honest men; polite, perhaps self-righteous, but overall noble in their cause.

They assisted her into the carriage before climbing in after her. The ride from the Upper City to the Industrial Quarter took at least an hour, and the three managed to pass the time with some pleasant small talk. They were both proud of their duties as Sarafan soldiers. They felt that they were the only ones that stood between the prosperity of the human race, and it's complete annihilation. It was a heavy burden for any man to carry, and yet it only motivated them to be the best at what they did. Holly recognized the same spirit in them that she saw in her husband; brave and strong, noble and goodhearted. She could not help but feel proud of them, and that made the loss of them all the more painful to endure.

Holly did not have the faintest idea of how she fell unconscious. She could not remember anything that might have caused it. She did not wake up with a headache, ruling out the idea that someone may have clubbed her. She did not feel drowsy upon waking up, ruling out the thought of being potentially drugged. To her misfortune, she did not have the time to ponder what might have happened, because the moment she woke up, she found that she was sitting in a steel chair. Her wrists and elbows were tied down to the arms of the chairs, and her ankles were tied against the front legs.

For a moment, she felt absolutely sick to her stomach. She lifted her head and saw that she was in some kind of boiler room, confirming that she was still within the Industrial Quarter. The room was spacious, holding several long tables, a large boiler, and a large steel door. Covering the floor surrounding her chair was a thick layer of mist that spread out to every cornor of the room. Holly immediately recognized her situation, and her eyes grew large. They shifted from the boiler to the tables until she noticed that there was something laid out on the tabletops. When she recognized the artifacts as scapels, hammers, long needles, and many other similar tools, she had to resist the urge to vomit.

This was a make-shift torture chamber. Or it was soon going to be.

_...It was a goddamned ambush..._

Stupidly, Holly struggled in her chair, yelping when she felt the skin break on her wrists and the front of her elbow. Her restraints were some kind of rope, but beneath was a layer of wires. Any sudden moments and her skin would be cut. Upon discovering this, she growled in her frustration. And that was when she heard a very familiar, shrilly laugh. It came from directly infront of her, and yet she could not see anybody there. Her eyes then fell onto the floor, eyeing the mist with distaste, and she glared hard.

_...Vampire..._

"Madam, you should know that it was terribly cruel of you to put Marcus in his current situation..." this time, Holly could not tell where the voice was coming from. It sounded as if it had come from all angles: above her, beneath her, all around. "When I set off to end your life, I thought it only fair to inform Marcus of my mission at hand. And well... he made me swear on my soul that I would make you suffer until your very last breath..."

She heard a noise, and her head whipped in the direction of that sound. Her eyes went large again when she saw a scalpel being lifted from the table, and then hovering towards her. She knew what was coming, and it terrified her. After a moment of temporary shock, she regained a good portion of her composure and grinned at the floating scalpel.

"Is that so?" she chuckled. "This is it? You are honestly here for Marcus and his petty revenge?" the scalpel drew closer, and yet Holly continued. "I know that vampires are generally stronger than humans, and are therefore much harder to kill. One would suspect that your kind would develop some level of pride." she chuckled, even as the scalpel inched forward. "I see it clearly now. You and Marcus... you do not display any sort of pride for it is evident that you both have none! You are both no better than spoiled, sniveling children. Just look at you, trying to be domi_na--!!!_"

The word came out in a gasp as all the wind was knocked from her in a matter of seconds. The blade of the scalpel buried itself into her stomach. The wound was shallow and would not cause an instant fatality, but the stab was very sharp and very sudden. And as the blade twisted from within her, Holly gasped and hissed in pain, digging her nails into the arm of the chair despite how her hands trembled and twitched at the sensation. A pleased chuckle was heard from infront of her, and Sebastians misty form came into being, as if materializing from thin air to be infront of her. He unsheathed the scalpel from Holly's womb, prompting another pained yelp from the woman, before he moved it directly under her chin.

"What a sassy mouth you have... why, it sounds just as_ infuriating _as it did when we first became acquainted." as he said this, she felt the tip of the blade push closer against the skin. "How I would love to silence it here and now, but alas! What fun would it be if I ended this party so soon?"

As he finished his statement, his other hand moved vigorously against her inner thigh. Immediately Holly's legs jerked at his movement and she only succeeded in feeling that wire cut against her Achilles tendon. She knew she had to stop squirming, otherwise the tendon would be severed. Sebastian chuckled as his strong hand groped up along her inner thigh and moved onto her lap. The blood from her wound had streamed down her stomach and formed a small pool on her lap. Sebastians fingers moved across the bloodstained garments for a moment before he withdrew his hand. His clawed fingers, dripping and stained with the womans blood, moved to his lips to be cleansed.

"Delicious..." he hummed, licking each appendage as he saw the rage build in Hollys eyes. "Your blood is a perfectly aged fine wine..."

With a roar, Holly's body jerked forward to attack him, only to growl in pain as the wires cut against her wrists and elbows. Had she been freed, she would have tore him apart with her bare hands or died trying. Because the restraints prevented this, and because Sebastian was laughing at her for her efforts, she leaned her head back, arched her neck, and then whipped her head forward. Spit flew from her mouth and hit him directly in his face. Almost immediately, Sebastian released a loud yell and both of his hands moved to his face. Holly relished the sound of sizzling skin, but her victory lasted for a mere second. When the burning ceased, Sebastian whipped around and raised his fist. With a strong swung of his arm, his knuckles made contact with Hollys cheekbone, whipping her head towards the side.

She saw stars. She felt the skin on her cheek split open upon impact. For a moment she was totally convinced that he had shattered her cheekbone. For a second, she waited for her head to roll from her shoulders and fall to the ground. He hit her with such a force that she was confident that he might have knocked her head right off, if not snapped her neck in the process. Unfortunately, she was not so lucky. What she received instead was Sebastians clawed fingers fisting a handful of her hair and whipping her head back, exposing her throat to him.

"You worthless, disgusting _maggot."_ his voice was every bit as venomous and dangerous as she had expected a vampire to sound. She heard him hiss, knowing that he had bared his fangs to her. "I should rip out your throat for that. I should tear it out slowly and roughly so your every last moment is painful and agonizing!"

"Then do it, you bloody coward." Holly growled, surprised that she still had the teeth needed to form clear words. "What?" she chuckled, "Do you think that you are _torturing_ me?"

His grip on her hair tightened. He wanted to move his face into hers to make eye contact, but was not going to risk another event like the one that had just occurred. "That kind of agony is too good for you, _witch_."

With that, he punched her in the stomach, coming in contact with Hollys wound. Against her will, Holly released a scream of agony and her eyes watered. Sebastian growled in pleasure before tossing her head to the side. He moved away from her and proceeded towards the table, leaving Holly to wince and hyperventilate on her own for a moment. The pain was unimaginable. Sharp, ebbing through her to her very core. She tried her best to hold back a sob but it was forcing its way out of her. She could not hear Sebastian behind her. She did not hear him lifting up various tools, deciding which one to use on her. But then, he began to speak

"Marcus..." it was a Whisper. The vampires were now in contact with each other. Sebastian was quiet for a moment, and then he chuckled. "It would seem that he has found that silly little Bishop. What a lovely bargaining chip for when Kain arrives."

Holly glared at the ground. So it was true. The Bishop _had_ been helping the vampires after all.

"Marcus is quite pleased with his catch..." Sebastian continued, and this time Holly heard his hands move across what sounded like many blades. "Perhaps I should pleasure him further... he would love to know what I plan on doing to you..."

Holly snorted at that, and slightly turned her head to glance over her shoulder. "Is this your idea of foreplay?" she muttered as blood dribbled from her lip. "You and Marcus... such _disgusting_, strange kinks you share..."

"Your vulgar behavior is very unbecoming of you, Madam." Sebastian shot back while lifting up several long needles.

"Oh?" Holly laughed. "Well I cant say the same for you, Sebastian. Your sadistic idea of homoerotica with Marcus actually suits you both very well."

Sebastian was upon her so quickly that Holly could barely comprehend it. She felt a sharp sting in her shoulder and gasped when she saw a very large needle buried into her shoulder. Sebastian broke the skin at first, and then he thrust it deeper until the needle struck a nerve. At that, Hollys body jerked and she released another pained scream. It hurt dear God did it hurt. And to make matters worse, he had decided to attack her already bruised shoulder. Before she knew it, she felt that same pain in her knee. Another scream followed when she saw a second needle buried there. Sebastian smiled at her agony, mesmerized by her pained screams, and gently stroked her bruised cheek. For a moment he looked distracted, as if he was listening to something in the distance, and then his eyes fell back onto her.

"Marcus is very happy to hear how you have been holding out. He sends you his best wishes." Sebastians eyes raked over Hollys body. She was trembling, perhaps on the brink of having a convulsion. He could hear her pounding heart through her chest, and without preamble, moved his claw to the front of her blouse, tearing it open.

On instinct, Holly leaned forward and her face touched his. Her teeth bit down on his cheek and in his surprise, Sebastian jerked away. However, Holly did not let go, and a huge portion of skin left his face. In his rage, Sebastian countered by punching her in the chin. Her head snapped backwards and she saw stars once more. Everything was hazy and dizzy, and she wasnt entirely sure what she was feeling. For a moment she thought she felt an itching sensation against her chest until she realized that Sebastian had bit down on the top of her breast, digging his fangs into her skin as hard as he could. After everything she had previously endured, this hurt the least. But the degradation she felt certainly hurt her pride more than anything. He had nothing to gain from this act except her humiliation. And she was not going to take this lying down.

"You _monster..."_ she growled. "You evil _bastard_. How _dare_ you do this to me..."

He replied only by biting down harder. For a moment she only felt anger, but once she felt his tongue against her breasts, licking and lapping up the blood from the bite mark, she was _furious_. In her rage, Holly thrashed about in her chair, ignoring the fact that the wires were cutting deeper into her wrists and elbows. She jerked her knees upward to knee him in the abdominal area only to feel the wires cut into her feet. Within a few moments of struggling, she felt blood smearing and pooling from around her wrists and elbows and felt it streaming down her ankles. But the shear rage she felt, knowing that she could not do anything to fight back, it only fueled her rage further.

_If Vladmir was alive, he would destroy you..._

Eventually, Sebastian moved away from her. His face was smeared with her blood. The chunk of skin that she had bit from his face was already beginning to heal, and the burns from her saliva were fading away. Her blood was his elixir. It would heal away all of his scars and within moments he would look like he had been completely untouched. It made Holly hate him more, knowing that the wounds he would inflict on her would never fade away.

"Not so arrogant now, are you?" he taunted.

Holly replied by screaming a very vulgar choice of words at him before spitting in his direction once more. Sebastian dodged the spittle and clamped his clawed hand down on her throat. He applied pressure, watching as Holly struggled for a breath. He growled low in his throat, then hissed at her.

"Do you know what it feels like to burn?" he whispered. "What it feels like when every drop of rain and every form of liquid burns like acid? Do you?" he applied more pressure, just to increase her discomfort, then he moved away from her. "Well... why not experience it for yourself?"

Holly gasped for a breath, but every move her body made caused unimaginable pain. The needles in her shoulder and knee, the wound in her stomach, the bite upon her breast, she felt as if she had been damned to Hell. Every part of her ached, every move she made only increased this agony, and for a moment she could perfectly envision a life of eternal pain and suffering. She did not believe for a moment that relief would come to her, and this belief was reinforced when Sebastian returned with a red hot poker.

There were no words to be said. No taunts or insults thrown his way. With every step he took, her heart pounded harder and her eyes grew wider. Her mind screamed for her to escape, and her body instinctively began to thrash and struggle in order to fulfill that order. But he was upon her, and within moments the smell of burning flesh and the sound of a high-pitched shriek filled the room.

Unimaginable pain. The poker had pressed itself against the wound on her stomach, and she heard her skin sizzling as she screamed. She could not resist the urge to sob and wail in her agony. The sounds she made were so heart-wrenching that any human executioner or interrogator might have been brought to his knees. The burning lasted for only for a few moments, but they still felt like an eternity. When he pulled away the needles from her shoulder and knees only to replace them with the poker, she relieved that agony again. Each time was more agonizing than the one before. Every moment was nothing but Hell. By the time he had reached the wound on her breast, she had already entered a state of shock, both physically and psychologically. If she had the ability to process thoughts, she would have feared that her heart was going to burst in her heart.

Finally, he drew back. As he did, her head slumped forward. Blood and saliva oozed and dripped from her parted lips and her large eyes faded in and out of focus. She heard him speak, but could not understand his words. She felt him undo the restraints on her hands and feet, only to scream once more when that burning sensation returned to the cuts made by the restraints. Then he threw her out of the chair, so that she was laying face down on the floor, unable to move, unable to speak. And then he was gone.

For a moment, she felt herself on the brink of life and death. Her instincts kept her alive though her body, still within that severe state of shock, nearly went into cardiac arrest. For a moment she did not understand why he had left her. But after several hours, when she could finally process thoughts again, she knew exactly why he had left her.

He cauterized the wounds so that she would not bleed to death on the floor.

He was going to come back for more.

_Oh God help me..._


	10. Chapter 10

**Lacrimosa**

There were more sessions. Each time was worse than the last. Sebastian was hell bent on breaking her mind and her body completely. Every sick and degrading thought that came into his mind (and quite possibly the mind of Marcus) was carried out on her. Her clothes had been shredded, her fingernails removed, her back teeth knocked out, and she knew for a fact that her nose had been broken.

And according to Sebastian, this was only the beginning. When he left for the last time, he made it clear that he would return with the promises of poison and amputation.

He took all the equipment when he left. She must have been so out of it that she did not notice when he did so. This had carried on for so long that she could not tell how much time had passed. Days? Weeks? Months? Was her mind finally playing tricks on her? When these sessions took place, it felt as if the clock was slowly turning backwards. Or perhaps it felt that time ceased to exist at all.

For hours and hours, she laid upon the misty floor. She did not move; doing so only caused her wounds to hurt more. The pain did not fade away. The burning may have stopped but skin stung so badly. The only comfort she had was that the mist was chilled, allowing her burnt skin some relief. Her face was covered in welts and bruises, and her usually peachy skin was black and blue. Her bottom lip and cheekbones had split upon, causing a great deal of swelling. Though there were no mirrors present in this room, Holly knew she would have avoided them at all costs, She had no idea what she looked like now, and she was too scared to find out if the damage had been permanent or not.

Sebastian did not return. Though her body was aching, she knew that only more pain would come if she laid about waiting for his return. She had no idea what type of pain she would be in store for if she allowed that to happen. All she knew was that she would not be subjected to amputation. He was not going to destroy her body anymore than he had already done.

_It's time to get out... on your feet, girl..._

Very slowly, wincing all the while, Holly moved her left arm beneath her. The pressure of her bodyweight resting on her damaged wrist only caused her more pain. In all honesty, she was surprised that she could use her hands at all after all the truama they had been through. Her other arm was dangling lifelessly, still injured from the nerve-damage done to her shoulder. It hurt to even slightly move it and she whimpered as she tried to push herself up with her available arm. As promised, every move she made was agony, but she knew she must persevere. She took several deep breaths and began to move very slowly.

_Nice and steady... take it easy..._

She shifted her legs underneath her, also slowly but with better progress. She rested her weight on one knee, not wanting to cause further pain to the other one. When she was on her knees she leaned back to sit upward, but even then she had to sit in a bit of a hunch. If she sat up straight, it would cause further discomfort to the wound in her stomach. Using her available arm, Holly moved it across her chest, holding the shredded fabric of her shirt closed. While she was thankful that her undergarments kept her from being fully exposed, and though there were no eyes present to see her in such a state, the exposure of her burned, wounded breasts merely brought on memories of her degradation at the hand of a vampire. She glared hard at the misty ground and though it hurt her ankles to move them, she positioned her feet so that she could rise up.

_Well... he won't have the pleasure of degrading me further. So you better start moving, Holly..._

She bit down on her swollen lip, and after taking a few deep breaths, forced herself to stand. She gasped and cried, feeling the strain on her knees and ankles as she rose up off the ground. Her knees pushed against each other for support, her ankles locked for a moment, and slowly but surely she found herself on her feet. Now that she was up, it was time for the hard part: walking.

_Baby steps... one at a time._

Every step was agonizing. The entire time her knees pressed against each other for balance. Moving her feet only a little was enough to make her sob. She approached the door, moving slowly but determinedly. Every breath she took was a gasp of pain and she tried her best to ignore how pitiful she must have sounded.

_Now isn't exactly the time to reflect on your injured pride…_

Three meters from the door. She was getting closer with every small step she took. And then her toe hit a crevice in the floor. Pain shot up through her leg and she released a loud cry. Her body fell forward and she crashed onto the ground, writhing in pain and cursing out loud at her own clumsiness. Her breathing grew harder and a look of pure desperation was made clear on her face. This was going to either be an extremely close call or a total disaster. She knew for a fact that when she reached the door, it was going to be locked. She doubted that Sebastian was _that_ ignorant to leave it unlocked. But she would be damned if she didn't make an attempt to escape.

Her good arm shot infront of her and her forearm pressed into the stone. The balls of her feet dug into the floor, and using all of her strength, she began to pull herself across the floor. Sweat beaded on her wrinkled forehead and streamed down the layers of grime and blood that had built up on her face. She crawled across the floor, moving towards the door. Fortunately, Sebastian's tables were near the wall. If she could reach them, standing up again may prove to be easier than it did before.

By the time she reached the wall beside the door, her arm moved and grabbed onto the leg of the table. Using her strength, she pulled herself into a sitting position and twisted her body, so her back pressed against the wall. She took a few moments to catch her breath and slow her heart. She didn't have any heart failure during these torture sessions and she would be damned if she had one while she was trying to escape. She was tired. Her body wanted to give up and rest longer, but every moment she wasted trying to restore her strength only brought Sebastian closer to her.

"Get up."

Her whisper was hoarse and fatigued. And yet upon hearing it, her body began to act on it's own. Her legs shifted and began to move closer against her chest. Her injured knee stopped about halfway, but the other leg had moved close enough. The foot rooted itself onto the ground, and Holly's grip returned to the leg of the table. After taking a deep breath, she began to pull herself up. Her leg began to straighten, and her body began to rise. She swung her lifeless arm ontop of the table and quickly her other hand rushed up to join it. She pulled herself over the edge of the table, her feet digging into the floor, and she slowly began to push herself up straight.

She was standing now. And the door was only a few feet away. Using the wall to guide her, she shifted her way towards the door and pressed her hand on the handle. Locked, as expected. But no matter; the door had a glass window. It was too small for her to break and crawl through, but it allowed her to look outside. And her heart nearly burst from her chest at what she saw.

Two human factory workers. Relief came to her faster than suspicion did, and she smacked her palm against the door, catching them both by surprise. They jumped around, and upon seeing her, screamed in terror. Before they could say anything, she opened her mouth and began to yell.

"The door is locked!" she choked. "Let me out!"

And then the impossible happened: they _hesitated._

One of the two men looked as if he was going to open the door. The other stopped him. The two looked at each other, then back at Holly. Both of them looked frightened… perhaps intimidated. Holly nearly sobbed again and beat her hand against the door once more.

"What are you waiting for? Get me out of here!" her voice cracked and she began to cough. She had done enough screaming for the past how many hours or days. She could not afford to yell at these two.

_Son of a bitch! Why aren't they doing anything? Why are they just staring at me!?_

And then she felt that horrible sting of realization. All of a sudden a horrible truth had surfaced. She knew exactly why they were hesitating and doing nothing to help her.

They _knew_ what was happening to her. And they knew _who_ was behind her injuries. A look of pure terror crossed her face for one moment. New tears formed and poured from her eyes and she beat her hand against the door again.

"_God damn it!_" she hollered. "He's going to cut my _arms off!_ He's going to burn me alive! _Get me the hell out of here!_"

She saw the fear in their eyes. Perhaps even some level of shame. But slowly, both of them turned around and left her. Holly released another scream and proceeded to beat against the door in fury. With a roar of frustration, she pressed her forehead against the door. Fresh tears had already formed and dripped down her face.

Those men had fed her to the wolves.

_Humans_ were willing to let a vampire kill her.

_Vladmir is rolling in his grave right now… he would be so ashamed…_

It took her a moment to think clearly. But she turned her head and began to scan the room for anything that could help her. Anything at all…

The air vents were too small for her to fit through. There were no other doors leading out of this room. There were no windows. But then her eyes fell on something…

The furnace.

It had a pipeline that led to another portion of the factory. While one pipe would channel smoke into the smokestacks, the other pipelines would transfer metals and objects that required intense heating from one part of the factory into the other. Though it was already operating, it would not be impossible to stop it.

But in order to escape this way, she would risk everything. There was always the possibility that someone could notice the furnace was not working, and would start it up again from some other panel within the factory. There was a chance that it would not cool fast enough and Holly would not be about to escape at all. Then there was the chance of getting lost in the pipelines and being found later as a roasted corpse.

But what other options did she have?

_Vladmir…_ her fist tightened. _I put my faith in you entirely… you would never betray me… _

She wiped away the tears and filth from her face and took a deep breath.

G_uide me, give me strength… get me out of here…_

Using every ounce of endurance she had, she pushed herself off of the door and broke into a sprint towards the furnace. To her ultimate surprise, moving quickly caused her less pain. When she drew closer to the furnace, her speed began to slow down. Her arms thrust forward and immediately her hands moved towards the panel. She pressed an emergency button, causing the furnace to abort it's actions immediately. Her other hand went to the switch to the emergency cooling system. The sound of the cooling agent was heard from within the machine.

She would have to give the system a moment to cool completely. Nobody would start it up immediately if they believed that there was truly an emergency. But if they knew where the call was being made from, there was always the possibility that Sebastian would be informed of this. She would give it five minutes. If she waited any longer, it would be risking too much. Her head turned in every direction, looking for anything that may assist her in this escape. Exposing her eyes to the burned contents within a furnace did not sound safe, and inhaling it sounded even worse.

There! She found a cabinet near the panel. Inside, there was a surgical mask and a pair of goggles. To her inconvenience, there was no lab jacket within the room. It looked like she was going to have to climb through a furnace partially naked.

Five minutes were over. Already she could hear activity from outside of the room. It was time to leave now. She pushed the goggles onto her face, moved the mask over her nose and mouth, and then pushed the button to open the furnace. The room filled with particulars from the cooling agents. Holly's body shivered, and she whimpered as the particulars came in contact with her wounds.

_Get used to it. There's going to be a hell of a lot more where that came from. _

And without further hesitation, she moved into the furnace…


	11. Chapter 11

**Lacrimosa**

The last time she had fallen asleep, she woke up on the cold, misty floor of a boiler room. When she had regained consciousness this time, she was in a small, warm bed in what appeared to be a one-room dwelling. There was nobody in the room at this particular moment, and Holly was far too comfortable to move. All of her muscles relaxed all at once, completely against her will. While it brought her relief, it certainly wasn't a good situation to be in when you were on the run.

_I hope to God that I am not drugged. I will bloody haunt the poor bastard who drugged me if I die because of him._

Though she could not move her body, she felt many bandages covering her wounded limbs and joints. Her wrists and fingers were bandaged, her knee and shoulders were wrapped up as well as her ankles, and she felt patches on her chin, cheek, and other areas that had been wounded. Her skin also felt a lot cleaner than before. She must have truly been in bad shape if her body was this exhausted. She tried to will herself to move, but her muscles defied her every desire.

With a groan, she finally gave up the inner struggle. If she was not going to move, she may as well go back to sleep. Either way she looked at it, she was already in danger, was just as vulnerable awake as she would be asleep, and there was no point in tiring herself further by staying conscious. So she simply closed her eyes and drifted back into sleep.

The second time she woke up, she was relieved to find herself in the same room, and this time could smell the aroma of food. Her bruised eyelids fluttered open and she saw two female factory workers standing over her. One held a bowl of warm water and a washcloth in her hand, and the other had a tray with what Holly assumed to be some kind of food. Both of them looked surprised to see her awake.

"Bless my soul!" the one with the washcloth gasped. "Thank God you are still alive. You had us worried to death!"

Holly groaned slightly and moved her mouth to speak. Immediately the woman with the food hushed her. "Don't start talking now, dearie! You need all the rest you can get. Three days of sleep simply wasn't enough!"

Holly's eyebrows rose and she felt the uncomfortable shifting of the sticky bandages against her skin. _I've been asleep for three days?_

It would certainly explain why she couldn't remember much. She did not forget the torture, and she did not forget climbing into a furnace to escape. The particulars from the soot and cooling agents of the furnace certainly added to the pain of her injuries. Probably even caused some infection. Regardless, while the pain was vivid in her memory, how she escaped the furnace and made it here was not. It was a question she was going to have to ask these two at some point.

"We thought we would wait until you woke up before we called for any outside assistance…" the woman with the washcloth said. "Do you want us to call the foreman? Or anybody else?"

At this, Holly shook her head. If she was here and not back in the boiler room it was because Sebastian did not know where she was. And she did not know if anybody was searching for her. It was best that she remain in this place, away from all the attention, at least until she knew what to do next. The two women looked very suspicious, but did not comment on the matter further. They simply respected her wishes.

The woman with the bowl, who went by the name of Anne, proceeded to change Holly's bandages for her. To Holly's convenience, this woman was very quick but also very gentle. Cleaning her infected and sore wounds was not going to be a fun experience, and yet Anne made sure to tend to those places with as little pain as possible. The medicine stung, the stitching was irritating and drawn out, and yet somehow it did not feel nearly as bad as she would have expected it to feel.

The woman with the food, who went by the name of Jane, helped her sit up against her pillows so that she could eat without complications. The food was some sort of porridge that was not all that pleasant to eat, but if it gave her back her nourishment and strength, she would be happy. Though it probably wasn't entirely healthy for her, she ate two bowls of the food rather than just one. Binge eating was something she normally refrained from doing, and under normal circumstances she would have been happy with the amount of weight lost over the past few days. But having been without food for as long as she did made even the most unpleasant of porridges taste like heaven.

There was so much Holly wanted to ask them, but could not. She was certainly surprised that these two women were caring for her. At the same time however, she made sure to observe their faces as they tended to her wounds. There were expressions of the utmost sympathy and sorrow, and perhaps anger. On some unconscious level it made sense to Holly that human women could empathize for what was done to her at the hands of a male vampire, but the memories of the two factory workers who left her to die was still very vivid in her memory.

Though she appreciated their effort to help her, she knew she could not trust them. Not yet. Not until she knew their true motives.

Days had passed. She wasn't keeping count, but in that amount of time, she had been in the constant care of these women. Sometimes they would leave her to return to work, but they always came back to feed her, change her bandages, and try to build her strength back. Eventually she was strong enough to exercise the muscles and joints of her arms and legs. She walked with a limp in both of her legs and though she could move both of her arms, it hurt to lift them too high or too suddenly. Also, twisting her torso too far or too quickly caused pain to the injury on her stomach.

Perhaps the most disturbing part of all of this was how her fingers looked without nails. Anne, who acted a nurse for injured factory workers, said that the root for the nail had been damaged, and if the nails grew back they may come back deformed. She had cleaned the skin of all the particulars from the furnace, and said that to prevent further infection that Holly should keep her fingertips bandaged for six months. In regards to Holly's broken nose, Anne did suggest snapping it back into place. It would hurt and would certainly cause a lot of bleeding, but it would be quick and would heal better. Regardless, Holly refused the offer. She had underwent more than enough pain over these past few days, and there was something that sounded very unpleasant about snapping the cartilage in her nose back into place.

"Come now, it will only be a moment of pain. Do you want to go on living with a crooked nose?" Anne asked, but Holly merely shook her head.

"I can live with it. It isn't the worst thing that's happened to me." was the reply.

Her hand went to her nose feeling how the cartilage was smooth at first, and then bent at the bridge. It must have looked as distracting and as horrid as it felt, but she quickly put it out of her mind. There was a far more important question that needed to be asked, and Holly turned her head back to Anne.

"…I want to thank you for everything that you and Jane have done for me. And I hope you will not find me ungrateful for asking why you did this for me…" she said.

Anne gaped at her. "Why? You are asking why?" she gasped. "What decent human being _wouldn't_ help you? You probably don't remember, but you were in such horrible shape when you crawled out of that furnace! You were covered in soot and blood, your wounds looked so horrible, your body was shivering and shaking, not to mention your clothes were just about bloody gone!"

…_Perhaps it was a good thing that I didn't remember it… _she thought to herself.

"I don't mean to bring up any horrible memories you may have had, but my God darling, what on Earth happened to you? There were so many rumors! The vampire Sebastian has been in the worst mood over these past days, apparently looking for a human who wronged him. And the day before his tirades, we find you in this terrible state!" she cried, her voice growing more suspicious with every word she said.

At this, Holly was silent. She wasn't entirely sure what to say about all of this, and she wasn't sure what to make of this situation. Those two factory workers from before knew what was happening to her and they both did nothing. And all that Jane and Anne seemed to know was that Sebastian was searching for a human. Perhaps after these two had found her, and heard that Sebastian was looking for someone the very next day, they knew better than the turn her over. Since they seemed to be in the loop, maybe now would be the time for Holly to inform them of everything that happened. And maybe if she used them for witnesses, she could file some sort of complaint to the Sarafan Lord about all of this. Sebastian would be punished for disobeying his orders, and Holly would certainly be compensated for her troubles.

But then again… there was that terrible, nagging feeling at the back of her head.

"…Was there a problem with one of the machines a few days ago?" Holly asked, looking back at Anne. "Did the foreman send for a mechanic to repair anything?"

Anne looked confused for a moment, but then shook her head. "No, dear. Not at all. Everything has been operating just fine except for that furnace… why do you ask?"

…_Everything was working fine…_ Holly's eyes hardened. '_Report to the Industrial District immediately…' '…perhaps a machine has broken down and needs repairing…'_

She was set up. This was all planned out, wasn't it? Did the two vampires conspire against her? Was that letter from the Sarafan Lord forged, or was it by his hand? Did the General Marius know what was going to happen to her when he sent her with those two young soldiers? Were they even dead at all? Did they simply hand her over to Sebastian and return to base?

"Ma'am! Stop it! Look what you are doing!"

Holly glanced down and saw that fingers had balled into a pair of tight fists. They were clenched so tightly that her arms were trembling and the wounds from the removed fingernails had reopened, causing blood to bleed through the bandages. Immediately Holly drew back, trying to calm herself. Anne immediately began to fix her up again, and there was no further comment on this matter. She merely told her that she should not rile herself over thoughts that would cause her further injury. Her recovery was the most important issue at this particular moment.

But her recovery was _not_ the only issue at hand. Jane had returned one evening with food for the three of them and had mentioned a story she overheard in the lunch line. The male workers were having a conversation about an invasion that had taken place at the Sarafan Keep. It was reported that a vampire had somehow infiltrated the premises, killed several of the guards and the inhabitants, and had rescued an imprisoned vampire scheduled for execution. The rumor was that Sarafan Lord had been present at this event and attacked the two vampires, yet the two somehow escaped with their lives. To make matters worse, the body of one of the Sarafan Lord's vampire guardians was found in the Upper City Cathedral.

Though Holly would have commented on this particular matter, she decided to keep her words to herself. On the inside, she was smiling. A vampire in service to the Sarafan Lord who was found dead within a cathedral in the Upper City. One could only guess which little leech _that_ one was.

_It was Kain, wasn't it? He killed you. _She thought to herself then glared. _You got off lucky, Marcus… God knows you deserved much worse for all that you did._

"There's more…" Jane said, and then looked to Anne. "There were bodies found within the factory. All completely drained of blood!"

Anne glared and crossed her arms. "It is probably that bloody bastard Sebastian… I wish someone had the balls to tell that leech that he can't go around killing workers just because he's mad about… well, whatever it is he's mad about."

But Jane shook her head. "No… he has been informed of the matter and denies feeding from these men. Could very well be a bloody lie, but we all know how much of a sloppy butcher he is. The ones he feeds on are found in pieces, and these bodies were not. Which means there may be another vampire invasion."

Anne gasped. "Another one? You would think that those creatures would be smarter than that! Everyone saw what happened to the last creature they caught trying to break into our factories!"

Holly's face paled at this. Another vampire had invaded… she remembered the face of the first vampire. She very much doubted that she would return to this place after what she had been put through within the Sarafan Keep. And yet, there was the vampire that had slain two of the Sarafan Lord's vampire guardians, infiltrated the Sarafan Keep and escaped with the captive vampire. Who better to send for a second infiltration than the vampire Kain?

And then a thought entered her mind.

…_And where do you think Kain is going to be heading…? And who do you think is going to be waiting for him…?_

Her mind flashed back to that chamber she had visited. It held that one strange stone; the one so important and so confidential that they would not share information about it's purpose to the one responsible for it's protection. Why was it so important that the vampires were trying to get to it? Why was it so useful?

…_You do realize that if both of them are there… there may be an altercation. And it would probably be an ideal time to get rid of both of them…_

The thought slithered its way into her mind so subtly that when she realized what she was thinking, it nearly scared her. What she was suggesting was madness. While she knew that the Sarafan soldiers would not object to the deaths of two vampires, she did not know how the Sarafan Lord would take having another pet vampire killed off.

_But then again… there is always that possibility that he was the one who may have set you up…_

This was true. But at the same time, she was so unclear of what may have happened. There were so many possibilities that it made her head spin. She knew for a fact that Sebastian and Marcus were in on her torture, and that there was a possibility that the two workers were scared into obeying their wishes, very much like the Tapster had been. But was this an act that was planned by those two alone? Were other people involved in this matter? Were the Sarafan soldiers themselves involved in this matter?

It was made abundantly clear that putting her trust in the officials was going to be a stupid move on her part. She did not know of any soldier or general that she could trust after this. For this she could blame her paranoia, and she could possibly even blame insanity. God knows that after everything she had been through, her thoughts probably weren't in order.

On the other hand… if Sebastian took the liberty of degrading her in the way that he did, would it really be so bad of her to take the law into her own hands?

Just for this one time?

"Are you feeling alright, my dear?" Jane's voice sounded very concerned, and Holly noticed that the two were looking at her. "You are very quiet this evening…"

Holly glanced at the two women… and then a smirk formed on her lips.

"…Do you ladies have a worker's uniform that comes in my size?"


	12. Chapter 12

**Lacrimosa**

A green jumpsuit. A well supplied tool belt. A pair of white gloves. A pair of comfortable white boots. A small canteen of water. Her hair in a messy bun, and a hat to cover it completely. All this, a map of the entire factory, and a heavy application of foundation to cover the bruises and welts on her face, and she was ready. Although the thick coats of make-up made her appear slightly clownish, for the most part she looked very much like any other factory worker within the Industrial District, all thanks to Anne and Jane.

Holly knew very well that this was going to be a dangerous task. Anything could go wrong and the consequences could be fatal. Before she had left her two colleagues, she advised them both to leave the factory. She did not explain why, but these women where far from stupid. They knew from the very moment they agreed to lend her their uniform that she was plotting something. Holly could have kissed them for obeying her wishes without asking any questions. Knowing that they were going to be safe when this drama unfolded put her heart at ease.

She was going through all of the details of this personal vendetta in her mind: how was she going to reach that power chamber? What was she going to do when she reached the power chamber? And should everything go to plan, how on earth was she going to outrun an explosion with her legs in the condition they were in?

Having worked with technology and sciences throughout her life, she knew very well that machines were far from flawless. They could overheat, they could break down, and in the most extreme cases, they could explode. She had visited that power chamber once before when she created the membrane for that strange stone. If she could channel enough energy into the machines; may it be raw energy from that stone, or electricity from the surrounding machines, perhaps she could create a bit of an "extreme situation" of her own. Perhaps blow up that entire portion of the factory?

_...Well, all great movements require some demolition... _

To get to that power chamber, she was going to have to use the Gondolas. It was the fastest and most convinient way to travel in this place, especially for one with legs as weak as hers. The maps that Jane had provided her with also showed her many passageways that employees often took to reach their destinations faster. Such things were necessary when it came to a job like this. As she waited for the Gondola to reach it's destination, her finger traced along the lines symbolizing these passageways. They led into the lowest levels of the Industrial District. The tunnels twisted and turned within subterranean caverns and led to many boiler rooms, engine rooms, and many other chambers. It would be very easy to get lost in a place like this.

_This map is a Godsend, then. Thank you very much, Miss Jane._

When the Gondola stopped and she followed the map to one of these hidden passageways, that was when Holly's thoughts struck up another inner debate. She was going much deeper into this factory then she would have liked, and this was beginning to worry her. How on earth was she going to escape this place if there was an explosion from within? There would be no way that she could run all the way from these lower levels to the outside. It took her at least an hour to get this far, perhaps another hour or so in order to get to that power chamber. She doubted she had the endurance or the legs to outrun an explosion and make it out of this place in record timing.

_Well, Holly... you will never get this chance again. If you abort your little mission, you will never be able to try again. And if you continue on, there will be no turning back. What say you?_

It was times like these when she was truly relieved that nobody was around to see her. She was confident that the expressions she was making as she argued with herself were either awkward or comical. After another long moment of inner debate, she continued forward without stopping.

_I say that there's no turning back now._

The map took her from one passage to another. Every chamber she entered was full of busy and bustling human beings. She guessed that this indicated that neither Kain nor Sebastian had been here yet. There were no bodies laying about and no bloodshed; only occupied workers too busy to notice her passing through the room to get into the next passage. There was something truly eerie about all of this. She had a feeling that these chambers full of busy, bustling people would be silent and still by the time she returned. She almost knew that by the time she returned from her mission (if she suceeded) that all of those people she had passed would be nothing but bloodless corpses on the ground. That many lives destroyed so violently and so quickly. All for the benefit of two monsters.

They needed to be stopped. This needed to end. No more families should have to suffer the way that she and her girls did on the day when Vladmir's body was brought to them. Wives should not have to become widows because their husbands were eaten alive by these beasts. Men should not have to worry constantly about burying their women and children because of a vampire resistance being on the loose. Holly truly realized this opportunity she had. If all went according to plan, she could kill two vicious monsters, make this land just a bit safer, and come one step closer to ending this plague.

This weight on her shoulders was going to be a great one to carry. Perhaps just as great as the burden Vladmir carried every time he stepped into a battlefield.

_And if he can endure it then damn it, so can I._

She stepped out of one of the passageways to find a lift. Holly checked the map and saw that the power chamber was closer now. She would need to go lower, and thankfully the lift did just that. When the lift stopped, there would be a large hall that would lead her to what appeared to be some kind of office, and beyond the office was the power chamber. The pathway to the power chamber branched off: one would lead directly into the chamber itself, while the other was a small station that would oversee the progress. She stepped out of the lift and made her way down the hallway. As promised, she found herself within that office. It was a strange room that stood out in this place like a sore thumb. It was spacious and looked as if the decorator made a desperate effort to make the room look as classy and as elegant as possible. There were desks, ornate rugs, a gramophone, and many shelves filled with books and reports. This part of the Industrial Quarter was meticulously clean, and Holly could not detect any scent or evidence of food.

Then it occurred to her that if Sebastian was the creature in charge of this entire quarter, then this station must belong to him.

_Is that right...? Well... _she cracked her knuckles. _Since I'm already here..._

It would be uncharacteristically immature for Holly to resort to vandalism, however at this particular moment, she decided to put her maturity to the side and help herself to whatever information that Sebastian may have within this fine office. And she did not make an effort to be sneaky about this entire ordeal. She emptied every desk and did not bother to push the drawers back into place. She went through all the papers and files, throwing everything that was useless onto the floor. If the gramophone was playing a song that irritated her, she removed the record and shattered it.

To her great misfortune, there were no journal entries or reports of particular interest to her. Most of the files she found were about buying new equipment and selling products. There was nothing particularly suspicious in these files, though Holly doubted that Sebastian would have put anything vastly important in writing. It was so easy for her to get into this office, she doubted that he would leave vital information laying around for anybody to find and read.

She did, however, make one interesting discovery. It happened when she was walking across his expensive rug in her dirty boots. The floor was relatively smooth, and then suddenly her toe hit a protrusion. When Holly tapped her foot against the floor, she noticed a very hollow sound from beneath her. She stepped off of the rug and roughly pulled it to the side. As expected, there was a trap door beneath the rug.

_A rather cliché hiding place, wouldn't you say? Now what could he be hiding in here…_

Without skipping a beat, Holly moved her hands to the handle and pulled it up with some difficulty. It was either surprisingly heavy, or Holly's arms were not as strong as she would have liked. Regardless of which, she pulled open the trap door and was a bit surprised with what she found inside. It was a very deep hole with a ladder leading into it. Holly squinted her eyes, looking down into the darkness and saw a faint outline of something at the bottom. Curiosity got the best of her and she moved herself onto the ladder, climbing down into this hiding place.

She discovered on her way down that the walls in this hideaway were stronger and thicker than the walls that made up the majority of this factory. When she reached the bottom, she discovered that the outline she had seen from above was that of a large, wooden coffin. And beyond the coffin was a tunnel that resembled a mineshaft.

She had not only discovered Sebastian's resting place, but also an escape route of some sort. Perhaps it led to the outside? Was this how he was able to leave and enter the factory so quickly? That might come in handy…

"Well…" Holly said to herself while unbuckling her tool belt. "If this is where the bastard comes to replenish his strength," she looked down at the coffin before her. "I know just what to do with it…"

In one hand was a hammer, in the other was a wrench. While this humble tool belt did not carry a wide variety of tools like her own toolkit did, she knew exactly how to work with what she had. She approached the coffin and proceeded to rip it apart. She broke down the wooden boards into pieces so small that they could not be restored, and then she covered the soil she found within the coffin with water from her canteen.

"If you thought it would be wise to get some last minute rest before your big fight with Kain, you are going to be out of luck…" she muttered as she emptied the canteen on the remains of the coffin. "Try replenishing your strength _now_."

_Bitterness is not very becoming of you, old girl._

She chuckled at her own thoughts before climbing out of the tomb. And naturally, she kept the door wide open instead of hiding the tomb under the rug. Perhaps it would be all the more satisfying when Sebastian knew he was going to be weak before his battle. She exited the office with a smirk on her face, and followed her map into the tunnel leading into the station overlooking the power room.

Two monumental events happened on her way there.

The first of which was a very loud collection of curse words and screams. It happened so suddenly that Holly nearly had a heart attack when she heard it. She recognized that raspy voice and that frustrated roar, and judging by the direction the sounds were coming from, she could only guess that Sebastian had found his desecrated tomb. It was a sound that warranted an amused chuckle, but her satisfaction died as quickly as it came.

The second happened the moment she opened the door to the station. As soon as she entered, she found herself looking directly into the face of one of the male employees that had left her for dead.

He looked surprised to see her at first, but when he turned around and continued to work, she figured that he did not recognize her. Indeed, she must look quite different when she wasn't bleeding profusely from her face. Perhaps he was more surprised by the amount of make up she was wearing. Holly said nothing on the matter, and instead closed the door behind her. She made an effort to stay as calm as humanly possible and to not give herself away until the moment was right. Instead, her eyes wandered over everything that was in this station.

To her left was a large window that overlooked the power room. She moved toward it and was welcomed by the familiar sight of the hovering stone, safe within its membrane. The membrane was attached to a crane-like structure that was attached to a larger machine above the chamber. The chamber itself consisted of many vents, and each one periodically released steam from the machines.

Already the gears in her head began to turn. She eyed the switches and the controls throughout the station. One would have raised the dais from the center of the chamber, and would have given one access to the stone. The other would release a vast amount of steam. When she eyed the rest of the controls, all of which gave energy and power to the surrounding machines, she knew exactly what she had to do.

All she had to do was wait for her opportunity. And it came sooner than she expected.

"Behold, the great Kain. Now a common thief."

Her heart nearly burst in her chest when she heard his voice. It came from behind her and she whipped around so quickly that her heart buzzed in her ears. For a split second, she thought she had been caught… until she realized that the sound did not come from within the station.

It was coming from within the chamber. Immediately, she and the male employee moved to the window. Perched on a ledge near the station was Sebastian, who was staring down into the chamber. And at the center of the chamber, standing proud and tall upon the dais, was Kain. The famous vampire general had arrived.

"Sebastian!" his voice sounded every bit as cruel as Holly would have expected it to sound. "It is you who have been following me."

Sebastian chuckled, and again Holly felt a shiver rush up her spine. Adreneline built within her stomach and forced its way into her chest. He would laugh like that while he was _butchering_ her. It was sickening…

"And how long it took you to discover it…" he said, his voice dripping with arrogance. "My master sent me to prevent your meddling further, and now you must die."

"Your master knows his days are numbered." Kain retorted, pointing at the monster before him. "I might have spared _your_ life by asking that you join me, but I learned that lesson two hundred years ago. You arranged the ambush that destroyed my army. You sold yourself to our enemy."

Holly restrained a snort, if only because her enemies were so close to her. _That certainly sounds like something he would do…_

"Did you think I would serve while _you_ ruled Nosgoth? _You_, and not I?" Sebastian chuckled. "The Sarafan Lord knows how to value me. I am to rule by his side and achieve what you never could…"

At this, Holly watched as the male worker rushed towards one of the switches. As he threw it, the dais lowered with Kain still on it. But he continued to speak without any distraction at all.

_"You fool!" he shouted._ "You think that butcher will permit you to live one moment longer than he has need of you? I will save you from your disappointment, Sebastian, and kill you now."

At this, Sebastian leapt from his perch and dropped into the chamber below. He stood before Kain, whipping back his blue cape, and spoke once more.

"I have waited two hundred years for the pleasure of killing you with my own hands…" he gloated. "While you have been sleeping, my powers have been increasing. You haven't the smallest chance of defeating me…"

And the battle between the two vampires began. It was time to act.

Holly removed a hammer and a wrench from her tool belt once more. The male employee was now entirely engrossed with the battle below that he did not see her moving towards him until it was too late. With a strong swing of her arm, Holly buried the hammer into the back of his skull, killing him instantly. His eyes bulged and his knees buckled. He fell to the floor, dead before he even hit the ground. Using her foot, Holly kicked him over onto his back and glared down at him.

"That was for betraying your own kind to a vampire." She hissed, and then she brought her wrench down and struck the man directly in the face, shattering his nose. She continued to beat at him with her wrench until his face was nothing but a battered, bloody mess.

"And that is so you don't get an open casket at your funeral."

With her betrayer dead on the floor, Holly turned her attention to the machines. The best idea she had was to override the power chamber. Without hesitating, she began to throw all of the switches. The steam from within the room began to burst from it's vents rapidly and without warning. The electricity from the machine above the dueling vampires began to build and then explode in large bursts of energy. Judging by the sounds she overheard, the battle was intensifying, but also having it's share of complications. Steam, raw energy, and bursts of electricity was taking it's toll on both creatures, and yet they continued to duel regardless.

_Tenacious little brutes, aren't they? _Holly thought to herself, before her eyes lifted towards the ceiling.

The stone… despite all of the energy and electricity, it was not receiving any real damage at all. It would seem that the membrane she had designed was taking in all of the energy and channeling it into the room. She did not know why this object was so important, but vampires were willing to risk their lives in order to obtain it. When the machines overheated and the energy built up, this stone would be completely and utterly destroyed.

And that raised a question: should she let that happen?

What would happen if the stone were completely destroyed? She did not know why it was so useful, but the vampires could not benefit from it if it were destroyed. Then again… perhaps it was somehow beneficial to the humans? If that was the case, perhaps she should save it from total destruction?

Her eyes fell on the panels. The meters for all of the machines were nearing a breaking point. She had only a few minutes left. She would have to decide quickly.

"John! Raise the dais!"

Her thoughts were interrupted by Sebastian's orders. She was quiet for a moment, and when nothing happened, Sebastian rose his voice again.

"John!" he snapped.

Holly glanced at the body of the man on the floor. Then her eyes fell onto the stone. After a moment of silence, she grabbed one of the controls and pushed the button. Rather than raising the dais, it moved the crane. Upon hearing this noise, both vampires lifted their heads up towards the stone and watched as the membrane neared the station's window. Sebastian began to yell once more. And then…

"…John is dead, you _asshole_."

Both vampires turned their heads in the direction of the different voice. And then Holly stepped into sight, pulling the cap off of her head so that her long hair dropped from it's hiding place. Sebastian recognized her instantly and roared in anger.

"YOU!" he hollered.

Holly's hand forced it's way through the membrane and grasped onto the stone. With a strong pull, she tore it from it's sanctuary, and her other hand moved onto a switch.

"I want to hear you squeal like the _pig_ that you are..." And she threw the switch_. "So start squealing!"_

As she threw the switch, a continuous flow of steam burst from the vents, filling the entire chamber. Both vampires were engulfed by it, and Holly heard them shriek in pain. Much to her pleasure, Sebastian's screams drowned out Kain's, but it was short-lived. The factory began to shake and rock, and the machines began to spark. Holding the strange stone against her bosom, Holly rushed for the door. Just as she passed the threshold, the machines behind her exploded, sending John's dead body flying through the window and crashing against a wall in the power chamber. That was more than enough to make Holly run faster through the passageway.

She reached Sebastian's office within moments and threw herself into the tomb below. Naturally this ended up hurting both of her legs. Although the pain was terrible, she did not forget that she was in the process of outrunning an explosion. Within seconds she was back on her feet and took off sprinting down that tunnel, ignoring the sounds of sparking electricity and exploding machines that echoed from behind her. The tremors grew more violent and running was becoming difficult. Though she was tired and fatigued, Holly knew she couldn't afford to slow down.

_Don't you dare stop… you survived too much to be killed by your own damned explosion…_

More sounds echoed from behind her. Everything sounded as if it was collapsing from above and all around. If that was the case she knew she had to get out of the tunnel faster before it came down on her. The explosions sent a wave of heat that filled the tunnel, and while Holly was relieved that it was simply heat rather than fire, the increased temperature didn't help her fatigue at all.

After an indefinite amount of time, the tremors slowed to a stop. When she was confident that she wasn't going to look back to find a wall of fire coming her way, or the roof caving in over her head, she slowed to a walk. Sweat beaded on her forehead and her make up practically melted off of her face. Her sides were sore, her legs ached with pain, and she tried very hard to catch her breath. The fact that her heart was racing and her lungs were overworking themselves proved that she was in fact, still alive. She could not believe that she had survived after all of that.

"…If you just jinxed yourself…" she panted, wiping her forehead with her arm, "I will kick you in your ass…"

For a long time, she wandered through these dark tunnels, unsure if she would ever find her way out. But within the next twenty minutes, she could smell the salt within the air. Shortly afterwards, she had finally come to a door, and she pushed it open.

The door opened up to a very obscure stairway, and beyond the stairway was the sea. Holly collapsed to her knees, doing her best to regain her strength and catch her breath. She could smell smoke and fire from above, and lifted her head to see thick clouds of smoke bursting from the factories of the Industrial Quarter. There was a lot of activity up ahead, and if she had taken the stairway upward, she would have found herself in the middle of all the commotion. Luckily, the stairs also winded down along the cliffs, and when she followed it with her eyes, she saw that they led to a portion of the slums.

Holly's eyes then fell to the object in her hand. The strange jewel stared back at her, and immediately she felt another wave of adrenaline rush through her. She held something very important in her hand. If she only knew what it could be used for, perhaps she held a bargaining chip in her grasp. But she would need time to think about how she could use this to her advantage. She was freed, but now entirely on her own. The people she thought that she could trust were no longer people she could turn to. If there was a traitor within the Sarafan Keep, she knew she could not turn to anyone there.

She held the stone against her chest, and lifted her head to the horizon.

There was a place that she could go.

The only place in the world where she knew she would be in good hands.

"Magdalena…"


	13. Chapter 13

**Lacrimosa**

_Author's Note: 30 reviews! Never thought I'd get that many. I know it's not a lot for some, but it's a lot more than I ever expected to have. Thank you all for your kind words, critiques, and for staying with the story. It really does mean a lot to me._

* * *

"I want to hear you squeal like the _pig_ that you are... _so start squealing!"_

It happened so quickly and so unexpectedly. The battle with Sebastian had intensified. Claw marks cut across the bodies of the two vampires, burn marks from the steam formed on their backs and faces. It was a battle to the death, neither opponent was going to hold back until the other lay dead on the ground. And arriving out of nowhere came this third opponent, and with her came promises of more suffering. The moment she had arrived and stole the Nexus Stone from it's membrane, Kain had immediately attempted to Charm her. Marcus' Dark Gift worked well against mere mortals, and if he was incapable of taking over her mind completely, he could at least incapacitate her for a moment. But as soon as he began to concentrate, steam blasted at he and Sebastian from all angles, and with it came overwhelming pain.

He realized a pained yell, where as Sebastian released a loud shrieking noise like a crustacean in boiling water. Kain's hands flew infront of his face, sheilding himself from the steam to the best of his abilities but doing nothing to relieve himself of the burning pain. With a roar, his strong legs kicked off of the ground and leapt above the steam. The steam had damaged his eyes but he had a generally idea of where the station's window was before he lost his sight. Both of his hands shot out infront of him, grabbing the ledge of the window before he flipped his lean body up and over the ledge. He could still hear Sebastian screaming from below, but many sounds came afterwards: electrical surges, rumbling bricks and stones, and finally many explosions. He felt his body leave the ground and an extreme amount of heat burst against his face and chest.

Then all was black.

* * *

"...You are welcome back... how do you feel?"

His ears twitched at the sound of the husky, feminine voice. Kain's eyelids slid open and everything at first was nothing but a blur. It took him a few seconds for his vision to sharpen and come into vision, and he found an attractive female vampire standing over him, looking down into his face. Beside her was a very tall and much older male vampire with large ears and emerald green skin, and next to him was a very muscular male vampire. It took him a moment to realize just where he was: Vorador's Sanctuary. The small, tomb-like hideaway for the vampire resistance of Meridian. He was laying upon a sarcophagus while the others gathered around him.

"...A little better than dead..." was Kain's reply as he sat up. "How did I come here?"

. "You are fortunate. Vorador said as he turned towards the male vampire at his side. "One of our vampires saw you thrown from the roof of the factory as it was destroyed. He carried you here."

Kain glanced at the vampire, who made no comment on the matter, but merely bowed his head at him. Kain gave a very curt nod in return.

"...Kain. The Nexus Stone... do you have it?"

Vorador's question immediately put Kain in a _horrible_ mood. His clawed hand moved to his chest, the place where the stone would have been kept safe as he left the factory, and he found it missing. His mind flashed back to all that had occurred, and he growled in frustration. Swinging his legs off of the sarcophagus, his strong hand curled into a very tight fist.

"I will tear that woman's bleeding heart from her chest!" he snapped, causing Vorador and the other two vampires to jump back in surprise.

"What woman?" Vorador asked just as Kain rose to his feet. The white vampire whipped around and glared at the three before him.

"I was in the main factory of the Industrial Quarter and I found the chamber that Umah described." he said, glancing at the female vampire for a moment. "There I met another old friend."

"Sebastian..." Umah whispered, causing Kain to nod once.

"I had not the pleasure of ending his treacherous life myself." he spat. With injured pride and a mood growing more foul by the second, Kain briefed the vampires on the events that had taken place. He spoke of the human woman who clearly had a bad history with his opponent and how she managed to escape with the stone.

"What did this woman look like? Do you remember?" Vorador asked.

Kain growled in disgust. "An older creature. Perhaps fifty years of age. Blonde, graying hair; very long, many curls..."

"Vorador!" Kain's words were cut off as Umah's voice rose. She turned and looked at the green vampire, who's attention was entirely hers for the moment being. "I know the woman he speaks of. I have seen her." Immediately both Vorador and Kain looked intrigued. Without saying a word, they both pressed her to continue. "She came to me in my cell at the Sarafan Keep to construct a Ward Gate. She was the one who invented the Ward Gates throughout Meridian."

"You are sure?" Vorador asked, and Umah nodded.

"Very few women wear their hair long in Meridian. That particular style has died out." as Umah said this, she flipped back her own long ponytail. It had been ages since she had been turned, and back then, long hair was considered a luxury. Times were much different now. "And a factory worker would have had to cut her hair in order to find word in the Industrial Quarter. According to Kain's description, she could not be a worker if her hair was not cut."

"How splendid." Kain added with much distaste. "A Sarafan woman concieved those accursed Ward Gates. It is only fitting that she rob me of Sebastian's Dark Gift, as well as the Nexus Stone."

Vorador crossed his arms. This did pose as a problem. With the Nexus Stone gone, they took away their one chance at defeating the Sarafan Lord. The only option for them would be to find this woman and take the stone from her.

"I will send word to our contacts within the Sarafan Keep." Vorador said. "With any luck, we will have her identified. That will make finding her a much easier task."

"By all means..." Kain hissed.

Vorador turned away, and being accompanied by the male vampire, the two continued across to the other side of the room. Kain was left alone with his thoughts, as bitter and unpleasant as they were. By the time Vorador returned, his news was all the more unpleasant.

"We have a name, thanks to our accomplice within the Sarafan Keep." Vorador began. "The woman you described is Lady Holly Michelle Angela, the widow to the Sarafan knight, Sir Vladmir Angela. She works as a mechanic and inventor for the Sarafan Lord for many years, but according to our sources, she had left for the Industrial Quarter on a mission and had not returned to the Keep. And apparently this had taken place after she was sent to trial for conspiracy to commit treason. There has been talk and rumors of a potential political killing."

"So I assume she has not returned to the keep with the stone?" Kain asked. Vorador shook his head. "Which means we have no idea where this minx is hiding."

"Our sources are currently looking into her archives. There is a chance that she may have family, perhaps an outside acquaintance. If she does..." Vorador's voice trailed off, and Kain understood immediately what he was implying.

The waiting took longer than Kain would have liked. And when Vorador recieved more news, it only served to disappoint him further.

"All documents on the location of her family has been destroyed. We have no address, only the names of her two children: Magdalena Angela-Tepes, and Lilianna Angela-Tybalt." he explained.

"What good are names if we are incapable of finding them?" Kain snapped.

Vorador crossed his arms and thought it through some more. The family names of Tepes and Tybalt were not ones that belonged to any Sarafan soldier that he knew of. The vampire made it a point to be mindful of the Sarafan and to know his enemies well, and these names did not belong to the fanatical soldiers. Perhaps these men had families of their own that could be traced to their location. One thing was certain: this altercation was making them go far out of the way of their mission at hand. Going on a wild goose chase to track down this one thief was going to take time that Vorador knew he did not have.

Then an idea came to him.

"...We want the location of this woman... and we need information on whatever it is the Sarafan are plotting..." he was quiet for a moment, then he spoke again. "I know of someone who may help us. She is a Seer, a being said to be older even than I. We are fortunate in that she owes me a favor."

"How would this benefit us?" Kain asked.

"Her wisdom and abilities are greater than you can imagine. She knows a great many things. If there is anybody who's abilities could help us in this situation, it would be the Seer's. Go to her, Kain. Learn what she knows." Vorador explained.

"Go to her?" Kain snapped. "This city is a wall fortress! How do you propose I get out?"

Vorador chuckled, then continued. "There is a secret way out of the city. I will show it to you. You may follow a canyon that leads north to her abode. But the way will not be easy. Strange beasts roam outside the city preying on travellers. The people call them demons..."

Kain grunted, then adjusted the gauntlets on his forearms. "I believe I've met one of these already..." he muttered, then prepared to leave. "I do hope your Seer's knowledge is worth the risk..."


	14. Chapter 14

**Lacrimosa**

Leaving Meridian was not something Holly had ever intended to do. Having spent the last several years with success and nobility, the idea to abandon her new home would have seemed out of the question. But much had changed in such little time, and she discovered that escaping Meridian would be much harder than she would have expected. The Sarafan knights patrolling the gates of Meridian and the surrounding lands only permitted merchants and traders to pass into and out of the city. There would be no way for her to exit the city as she was, or at least not without suspicion and interrogation.

But she had no other option in these matters. There was only one place in Nosgoth where she knew she would be safe: the home of her eldest daughter.

_Magdalena..._

Magdalena lived in a small home in the mountain village of Provance with her husband and two children. Holly's youngest daughter, Lilianna, lived in an obscure village near the Canyons outside of Meridian. Normally Holly would have went to that home, for it was closer than Magdalena's home in the mountains, but the canyons were patrolled constantly by the Sarafan Knights. Paranoia and pessimism seemed to walk hand in hand with Holly these days: suppose a knight recognized her, and saw her visiting her daughter? Holly want through enough trouble to keep the location of her children safe from the vampires who clearly despised her. Destroying documents was not an easy or safe endeavor, and getting away with such a task was just as big of a risk as standing on trial for treason and conspiracy. To be seen, and then to reveal the location of her child, would only raise suspicion, and it wouldn't do to give the knights any reason to suspect Lilianna.

Few traders were taking the roads that led towards the mountains, but Holly was fortunate enough to find a cargo transport that did. At first she contemplated hiding away in the cargo, but decided against it. Being a stowaway would be far too risky. She didn't know how long the journey would be, and spending it in hiding and constantly sneaking away to steal the traders' food could delay the journey, or prompt an investigation.

Instead, when the cost was clear and the time was right, she approached the trader leading his team into the mountains. He was an older man, perhaps around Holly's age or older, and was certainly caught off guard by Holly's request to travel with him.

"Well there is more than enough room for you, Madam..." he said, "...But why do you need to leave Meridian?"

This prompted a very long, drawn out story about how her daughter was having a baby soon, and she had no other way to get into the mountains to see her grandchild. In the end, Holly wasn't entire sure what persuaded the man to allow her to come with him: was it her story or her still battered face and broken nose that appealed to his sympathy? Either way, he invited her aboard, and was kind enough to provide her with a very long hooded shawl that succeeded in hiding a good portion of her face. This worked very well in Holly's favor: her self-consciousness towards her injuries was temporarily appeased, and her identity remained unrecognizable. Getting pass the guards came with very little trouble.

It was a three day journey to reach the mountains, and another two days to reach Provance. Holly's experience as a mechanic made her stay all the more convinient when the cargo transport broke down along the journey. Though the tools she took with her from the Industrial Quarter were not as wide of a variety as her original tool kit, they did the job successfully and quickly. Her work earned her food and warm drinks when the traders stopped to rest, and the wit and charming personalities of the traders themselves kept Holly entertained.

In a time of great mistrust and betrayal, it was heartening to discover that Nosgoth still had good people.

By the time they reached the mountain post, Holly's face had recovered. There were still some pale welts and some discoloration on her cheeks and chin, but overall everything on her face had healed fine. Unfortunately the rest of her body was taking its precious time getting back to a complete recovery. She didn't heal as quickly as she used to when she was younger.

"One of the downsides of getting older..." she muttered to herself, then shook her head. _You complain so much about getting older. It's never going to get you any younger..._

And with that thought, she snorted and took a long drink of hot cider. "That may be so but it still doesn't change the fact that I bloody _hate _getting old..."

"Pardon me?" one of the female traders, a behemoth of a woman who weilded a very large weapon and worked as a protector of the cargo transport, looked Holly's way with a confused expression. "Did you say something, Madam?"

Holly shook her head. "Nothing to you, darling. Just thinking outloud..."

_...On the contrary, you have been talking to yourself a bit more than you probably should be. And I believe the other traders are starting to notice it._

Shortly after the thought entered her head, Holly shrugged it off and took another drink. _...Surviving imprisonment and torture certainly takes it's toll on one's psyche, I suppose... but I suppose it would be wise to keep these inner debates and conversations with myself on a more silent level._

Thankfully in the mountains, Holly discovered that she could be more open with her appearance. Few of the Sarafan in Provance recognized her, though she doubted that they would not know her name if she were to say it aloud. But in the town, she was able to walk around freely without her hooded shawl. This allowed her to buy food and clothes without feeling suspicious or attracting too much attention. Fully confident that she would be safe in this new town, she gave her thanks and eternal gratitude to the traders, and then continued on her way.

Snow fell from the dark clouds above, covering the dead trees and winding trails that led throughout the mountain village. Like so many places in Nosgoth, Provance was every bit as lifeless and as Meridian. It became all the more clear to her as she followed the snowy trail to the home of Magdalena. Legends spoke of a time when Nosgoth was overflowing with life and beauty, and how that all changed with the corruption and fall of the Pillars. Whatever beauty or life Nosgoth may have once had, Holly had never known it. Wild animals grew more endangered with every passing day, and the vegetation that grew in these lands did not last long. Despite this, Holly could not help but feel some level of surprise when the mountains were as lifeless as the lands surrounding Meridian.

Perhaps it was only further proof that all of Nosgoth was dying away...

These dark thoughts faded away as she approached a small cabin near the dying forest. Collapsed snow forts were found here and there, and freshly made snow angels were being refilled with falling snow. Smoke rose from the chimney, and eminating from the cabin was the smell of cooking meat. The sight itself looked like something from a storybook, and it's beauty caused Holly to smile.

She knew this home. It was everything Magdalena and Lilianna had described in their letters to her. Holly approached the door and after knocking the snow from her boots, knocked on the door. There was no response just yet, so Holly knocked again. Still no response. When she knocked a third time, that was when she finally heard a response, though not in the way she would have expected.

_"Mircea! Get your pants on! Someone is here!"_

At that, Holly made a very awkward expression. _...She is seven months pregnant and he still can't keep her off of him... where on earth did she get such a behavior from? Certainly not her mother.... _

Then she thought about it for a moment.

"...Definately her father..."

No sooner did the words leave her lips, the door swung open. A very beautiful young woman stood before Holly, who took the time to observe her in the few seconds of silence she had. The lady's size and facial structure were not entirely identicle to Holly, but she had her very wavy blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Her stomach was very large and it looked like Magdalena gained more weight than she would have wanted. Holly mentally noted that her daughter was not going to enjoy the stretch marks that came with eating for two.

"Two more months to go, my dear." Holly said before her daughter released a very loud, happy squeal.

"Mama!" she laughed, then threw her arms around her. "Oh my God, what are you doing here?!" she cried in her excitement. "I wish we would have known you were coming! I would've cleaned up the place better! It's so good to see you.... Mama...?"

The moment Magdalena embraced her, Holly felt many thoughts rush through her mind. She was very stiff, not returning the embrace right away, and only doing so when her daughter realized that something was wrong. Magdalena was warm, lively, and still the same happy creature that Holly remembered. She closed her eyes and held her daughter closer, fully realizing just how badly she had missed her. So many years had passed... letters of love and affection were simply not enough for a lonely mother. And her choice to end this only form of communication in order to protect her, to isolate herself from her children so a monster could not track them down, was suddenly all the more painful. But most importantly, the idea of just how horrifying it could have been if Sebastian had finished her in that room...

She would've never had been able to see her daughter again. Magdalena would have never known what happened to her...

_...Oh God..._

"Mama... what's wrong? Are you crying?"

To Holly's great misfortune, Magdalena had pulled away to observe her mother's face. It was then, under close examination, that Holly saw the transition from concern to horror cross her daughter's face. Magdalena's hands moved to her mother's cheeks and chins, moving over the fading welts and bruises. Her thumb brushed against Holly's broken nose, and all the while Magdalena looked as though she could not comprehend what could have possibly happened. To make matters worse, Holly had a general idea that her tearstreaked face only made her appearance look worse.

"...Who did this to you?" Magdalena asked, her voice combining sorrow and fury with every word she spoke. When Holly didn't reply right away, her daughter turned to look back into the house. "Mircea! Quickly!"

"What's the matter?"

Holly wiped away her tears just as her son-in-law came into view. He was very tall and muscular with long, thick hair and a small moustache. Despite his strong build, Mircea was not a Sarafan soldier. Instead, he found work as a bodyguard for traveling merchants. When Magdalena was pregnant for a third time, he took a leave of absence in order to care for her. Upon seeing Holly, he immediately looked surprised but then looked just as concerned as his wife.

"Holly?" he moved in close to observe her face, the concern in his eyes growing increasing. "What happened to you?"

Holly moved her hands onto his chest and gently pushed him away from her. Mircea obliged, giving her the space she required. "...I am fine." she cleared her throat, and took a deep breath. "...It is over now, and it has been dealt with."

Neither her daughter nor her son-in-law understood that statement. Unsure of how to respond to this matter, they ushed her into their home and closed the door behind her. The house was small, but very active. Holly could hear children playing in the other room, squealing and laughing with joy, completely oblivious to the trouble at hand. It reminded Holly of the past: the sounds of little feet running through the house, of laughter in the other rooms, of the total innocence of her children before the death of their father. She remembered how much she could envy a child during times of hardship: there could be talk of another battle, or of a vampire sighting, and yet children still found means to smile through it all without a care in the world. While the adults worried themselves with ideas of relocating and making emergency escape plans, children just smiled and played unknowingly. Perhaps ignorance is bliss after all...

Mircea took it upon himself to go to his children once Holly found a seat in the kitchen. If he kept them distracted long enough, there would be enough time for Magdalena to get her mother settled in. It wouldn't help matters if Holly's grandchildren saw their grandmother in such a state. Magdalena put on the tea kettle, and after a few moments, poured her mother a cup of tea. Then she took her seat across from Holly, looking over her with large, frightened eyes.

"...Mother..." her voice was shaking, but she fought to keep control. "...Mother... did something... happen?"

Holly took a sip of her tea and rose her eyebrows at her daughter's question. _That is quite possibly the dumbest thing you could have asked me, my dear._

Despite her personal opinion, she nodded. "Yes, dear..." she said, lowering the cup. "...Something happened." she brushed her hair out of her face and her eyes lowered onto the table. "...And these bruises are really the least of my troubles... I am going to be needing your help..."

"What is it?" Magdalena asked, her voice very low and very soft. One of her hands moved across the table to hold onto her mother's. "I'll help you in anyway I can..."

It took Holly some time and several cups of tea to explain her current situation. Yet all the while she was mindful enough to avoid using too many details. There were things her daughter did not need to know as far as the physical damage done unto her. However, she spoke of the conflict with Marcus and her decision to stop writing. She talked of destroying documents that led to the homes of her children, and then spoke of her trial. After that, she explained only a portion of the events that took place in the Industrial Quarter, then spoke of her escape.

"You believe the Sarafan have turned against you?" Magdalena asked, before shaking her head. "But that can't be right. They know about all that Father has done for Nosgoth, they couldn't possibly think that you deserved to die."

Holly glanced down at the bandages on her fingertips and shook her head. "...I believe that loyalty towards your father's service would not be in the best interest of soldiers who serve a cruel lord..."

Magdalena glared and leaned closer. "Then we should tell the soldiers! We'll tell them what the Sarafan Lord let that monster do to you! And then they'll see just how horrible he is, and..."

"...and then they will rebel against their lord, all for the sake of one woman's word? And not just one woman, but one who was put on trial for treason and conspiracy?" Holly shook her head. "It would not work. And I am not stupid enough to try it."

"But there must be something we can do! I can't sit by and do nothing after he allowed this to happen to you!" Magdalena protested, only to be hushed by her mother.

"Keep your voice down, you don't want the children to hear this..." Holly whispered, then groaned in slight discomfort. _God I could use a cigarette. _After taking another long drink of tea, she spoke again. "...I came here because I knew this was the only place where I could be safe. It's also far away, and the soldiers here do not know my face. But, there is something else... when your father died, he left his personal belongings to you and Lilianna. One of the items left to you was a document, or some kind of record of the history of the Sarafan. As if wife, he saw little need for the document to go to me, for I seem to have a good understanding of what all the soldiers stand for. He wanted the documents to go to his daughter, so you would understand his sacrifices." after a moment of silence, Holly looked her daughter directly into her eyes. "...Do you still have this document?"

Without a word, Magdalena left the kitchen. She disappeared into a hallway and was gone for ten minutes. When she returned, she carried with her a very large book. Holly rose to her feet as Magdalena reentered the room, and her daughter offered the book to her.

"...Father left it to me, yes... but raising children prevented me from reading most of it. Maybe you'll have better use for it then I did... but Mama... how is this going to help you?"

Holly took the offered book and looked down upon it. _Because..._ she thought to herself, _I think I have seen the stone from somewhere before. _Her eyes slipped away from the book to glance at her chest. Beneath her shawl, the cool metal of the stolen treasure rested against her final layer of clothing. _It is clearly something of great importance for the Sarafan... otherwise, why would they guard it so heavily?_

She looked up at Magdalena. "...I believe I will find some solution in here..."

Magdalena nodded slowly, noticing her mother's evasiveness, but knowing better than to question her further. She gestured out of the kitchen. "You can use Mircea's study. Take as long as you need. I'll call you when dinner is ready..."

Holly nodded once. She kissed her daughter on the cheek, and then moved pass her. But as soon as she neared the hall, her feet stopped moving. She paused for a long moment before speaking again. "...I was very scared..." she whispered, causing Magdalena to turn around and face her. "....I was so afraid, in that room... it's a horrible feeling to realize you may never get the chance to see your loved ones again."

She could hear the sniffling from behind her. Magdalena's sorrow had truly surfaced. Holly lowered her head. "...I thought I would never see you again... or your sister... or your babies..."

At that, her voice cracked. Fresh tears had formed in her eyes. When she felt Magdalena rushing to her and wrapping her arms around her, tears poured from the both of them.

"I was so afraid..."


	15. Chapter 15

**Lacrimosa**

_I took the liberty of stealing the stone so it would not fall into the hands of the vampires... but I must know what it's purpose is..._

When Holly had finally parted with her child, she entered Mircea's study, where she remained for several hours at his desk.

Vladmir's book was fairly dated, as it included very little information about the Glyph Magic or the ward gates that followed. The Sarafan Lord was described as a foreigner bearing a new sort of magic that could ward off vampires, though his origins were not described in detail. The book described the early days of the Sarafan Army, dating back to the age old story of the death of Janos Audron, who found his demise at the hands of the great Sarafan Priests: Turel, Dumah, Melchiah, Zephon, Rahab, and of course, Raziel. The story also told of their mysterious deaths at the hand of some unknown enemy, though it was likely that the murderer was the vampire Vorador, who succeeded in butchering six of the Circle of Nine before the bodies of the fallen priests were found.

Then, of course, was the story of the vampire, Kain. Very little was told of his origins, but history remembered him as the murderer of the remaining Pillar Guardians, as well as the demon who slaughtered the beloved boy king, William the Just. This sparked the genocidal war against the vampires in Nosgoth, resulting in Vorador's execution (though she found it interesting that his revival went unexplained). This left Kain as the only surviving vampire for a time, but with the death of the Pillar Guardians and the destruction of the Pillars themselves, he rose an army with the newly revived Vorador. Four hundred years ago, the vampire armies waged war against the humans of Nosgoth. They swept across the land, pillaging town after town. Slaughters and rapes became commonplace, and the once endangered vampire race began to flourish and roam the night once more.

It was in this part of Nosgoth's history that Holly found what she was looking for.

The book, along with it's long and detailed history, came with several illustrations of important events. One of these illustrations was perhaps a rough draft or copy of a very familiar painting: the one displayed in the main hall of the Sarafan Keep. The painting depicted the victory of the Sarafan Lord in his battle against Kain, and on his chest was a familiar artifact: the very stone she had stolen. Reading further into it, Holly discovered in the passage beneath the illustration that the victory over the vampire army was possible because of one source of magic: the Nexus Stone. It's origins were unknown but said to have come from the same foreign land as the Sarafan Lord. According to legend, the one wearing the stone would be immune to the powers of the vampire's main weapon: the Soul Reaver.

The amulet resting upon the armor of the Sarafan Lord was the same amulet she had stolen from the Industrial Quarter.

It was the Nexus Stone.

It all made sense now. The vampires wanted the stone because the Sarafan Lord had the Soul Reaver. If Kain reclaimed the stone for himself and then challenged the Sarafan Lord, he could win in mortal combat. But what was it's _other_ purpose? Was the stone merely a source of energy powering the Industrial Quarter, or was that power room in the factory used for an entirely different purpose?

She spent hours searching through the book, but found no further records of the Nexus Stone or it's purpose. Instead, there was talk of battles and massacres between both human and vampire armies alike. It worried Holly that the Sarafan Lord was as old as the text had claimed. If the battle between he and Kain took place four hundred years in the past, and yet he still lived in this age, it only confirmed that he was every bit as inhuman as she feared.

But then there came another passage. In the many battles waged against humans and vampires alike, there were a series of gruesome deaths that were not of vampiric or human origin. These deaths occurred predominantly within the Canyons outside of what was now Meridian. While these deaths went unexplained, there was a rumor that a mysterious being lived deep within the canyons, perhaps as far away as the sea. Several times she overheard other merchants talk of "The Abode of the Witch," but she had never put too much thought into the tale. It may have been purely superstition for all she knew. But the book did speak of a witch or demon that was rumored to be older than even Vorador. The stories say that she possessed unimaginable power and knowledge. Men had died because of her curses, and even a select few were driven mad by her foresight. She told them of impossible things that would happen to them in their future, and unfortunately for these poor souls, her predictions were proven to be accurate.

Because this story consisted entirely of rumors and legends rather than hard evidence, there was no way to tell if it was a true story. It was also quite possible that the witch could have died if these stories were true.

_But if that were the case... why would the people keep talking about her? Do they believe she haunts the canyons? Is it really only a tale based on superstition, or is it true?_

Absently, Holly's hand moved to her chest, feeling the stone hidden beneath her layers of clothes. The Nexus Stone...

Already a piece of a puzzle had fallen into her posession, but there was still more to be found...

"...Her foresight was always proven to be accurate..." Holly whispered to herself, looking back at the passage. "...How interesting..."

Because she was high in the mountains, the Canyons were beneath her. And within the canyons was a river that led towards the Great Southern Sea. And the book mentioned that the witch probably lived near the seaside. There was always that possibility that the witch could have moved from one abode to another over the years, but this was still a lead.

But should she visit the witch? This was going to be quite a gamble. The witch was dangerous, and if finding her wasn't going to be an issue, persuading her not to attack would be one.

_...But perhaps if I show her the stone, she might consider helping me..._

"...But then there's the chance that she might take it away..." Holly muttered to herself. "Or she just might not care about the trinket at all..."

_What do you have to lose, Holly? _her mind argued back. _When you stole the stone, you already put yourself in danger. People will be looking for it if they don't believe it to be destroyed. _

She took a breath, then placed a hand on her forehead. "...This is stressful... I hope I am not in over my head. But I've come this far... I should go all the way..."

Being that Mircea made his living as a bodyguard for merchants, perhaps he had a map of the routes they would use to navigate through the river. She left the desk and took the liberty of digging through his books and documents. She doubted her son-in-law would appreciate this invasion of privacy, but at this particular moment, he was simply going to have to deal with it. After spending the better half of an hour searching through the study, she finally found a map.

To the west of the Canyons was a cliffside along the mountain range near was a remote location beyond a place that Mircea marked "The Crane Yards." According to his notes, there were several construction sites within the canyons, and travel by ferry was usually the easiest way to travel. On foot, the journey would be very long, but by boat, it would probably take at least a day.

"So it's decided then..." she nodded. "It seems I'm going on a bit of a witch hunt..."


	16. Chapter 16

**Lacrimosa**

The rocking of the ship and the motions of the waves was nothing short of _murder. _There were several unpleasant ways for one to wake up, and to start the morning with nausea and vomiting was no picnic.

Already Holly was hating her decision.

It wasn't easy to leave Magdalena's so soon. She wanted nothing more than to spend more time with her daughter and her children. Magdalena had given birth to twins shortly after her marriage to Mircea. Talia and Remy were both born with olive-toned skin, large brown eyes and very thick brown hair, resembling their father more so than their mother. Talia had her mother's energy and girlish personality, but Remy was a very relaxed and patient little boy, perhaps a bit too shy for his own good. They did not take to Holly right away. Her uppity nature and dry humor was something that took some getting used to, but with every passing day she spent with them they seemed to be warming up to her.

It was disappointing that she had to leave before she had the chance to truly bond with her grandchildren. It would have been nice to stay longer and take the time to get to know them better. It had been so long since she had seen them…

"…You are a brilliant creature, Mrs. Angela, but this was not one of your best plans."

Holly glanced over and saw her son-in-law at her side. He was also sick to his stomach. Despite his strong physique and brave nature, Mircea was still no match against the horrors of seasickness.

Perhaps that is why he was so reluctant to accompany her on this trip…

* * *

"You want to go where?" he had asked her.

It was the evening when she had discovered the information about the Nexus Stone and the Abode of the Witch. When the children had been put to bed, Holly confronted her daughter and son-in-law about traveling by boat.

"You know the Canyons that run beyond Meridian, do you not?" Holly had asked him.

"Of course I do, I've traveled it a hundred times. You know this." Mircea responded, his tone a bit impatient.

"No need to get snippy, I am not insulting your intelligence." Holly snapped back, and then continued. "There is a place to the west of the Canyons, near the sea. It is beyond the Crane Yards, and I would like to go there."

Magdalena rose her eyebrows, gaping at her mother with disbelief. "Why would you want to go there?" she asked, then looked to Mircea. "He tells me it's a miserable place to be."

_Yes, I am certain the Abode of the Witch would be._ Holly thought to herself. "I have my reasons, and they are important ones. Are there any ships departing in that direction, Mircea?"

Mircea crossed his arms. "I have not been paying mind to the shipping schedules since Magdalena has been with child. I can find out for you, but I feel that I deserve an explanation."

"Feel whatever you like." Holly said, placing her hands on her hips. "But perhaps you should know how _I_ feel about this matter: it's better for you and your family if you know as little as possible about what I do."

_…He's a good man. He's good to your daughter, and he's a good father… so why are you always bumping heads with him?_

"Holly…" his voice was hinted with irritation. "If I am going to be going out of my way to help you get aboard a ship, and to go to a remote place that is open only to workers and traveling merchants, I feel I deserve to know why I am taking this risk."

_…Because he's a stubborn bastard, that's why._

"Because I am your wife's mother. And what I am doing is something I know that her father would have wanted me to do. And no, I cannot trust you with the information, however, if you are so curious, perhaps you would like to accompany me until I had reached my destination. At least until then you can keep a watchful little eye on me. Are you scared that I might do something embarrassing aboard the ship?"

At this Mircea was silent for a moment. He stiffened, clearly looked irritated, but was thinking about what he had to say before he could say it. Seeing the tension building between her mother and husband, Magdalena moved over to Holly and took her hand.

"Mother…" she said. "…Is this so important that really nobody must know? You are talking about going out into the middle of nowhere, where nobody will be there to help you if you get lost… or worse…" the young woman shook her head slowly and then glanced at Mircea. "I think that's why he's worried… losing Father was not easy on me, he knows this… I don't even want to think about…"

"I won't do anything dangerous."

It was a lie. Holly knew she was lying through her teeth. Perhaps Mircea did too. As pretty and as sweet and Magdalena was, she wasn't entirely bright. Perhaps the lie would be persuasive enough for her. One thing Holly knew was that if she had told her daughter the truth, there would have been more drama than she would have liked. If she mentioned the Abode of the Witch and the Nexus Stone, there would be no way Holly would have been able to continue on her mission without her daughter and son-in-law trying to interfere somehow.

"There is something I need to see. Something that your father left for me in that place. I need to know if it is still there…" Holly said very gently and very slowly. Her tone sounded sincere enough and her eyes never left her daughter's. Though she could feel Mircea's gaze burning down on her.

"…Is that it?" Magdalena asked. "…Is it something that could help you? Maybe… prove your innocence?"

Holly nodded. "I hope it will." She said, then turned her head to meet Mircea's gaze.

Nothing got by him. He read her like a book, but was polite enough to not front her off infront of Magdalena. Holly in return nodded, then approached her son in law.

"Please… tell me the schedule. You can come with me… and wait for me on the boat until I return, if it will satisfy you." She asked him. "…I must do this. It is important."

* * *

So here they were now, on this boat, dressed as sailors, both as sick as dogs. And upon hearing that snide comment, Holly responded by cuffing him upside of his head.

"Do not talk to me right now unless you are praising every little thing that I do." She spat, then wiped her lips. "_Disgusting…_ how long until we reach it?" she asked him.

When Mircea had finished retching, he released his hold on his long hair and also wiped his mouth. He lifted his head to the skin and traced the position of the sun with his fingertip. "…We left yesterday at midday… judging by the position of the sun, it is still early morning, perhaps ten-thirty or eleven. We are almost there."

"Thank God…" Holly sighed, rubbing her stomach to settle it. "It is a shame that horses are so rare these days. I prefer travel by horseback over travel by ship."

"Indeed." Mircea nodded. He took a flask from his belt and opened it, taking a drink of it's contents before spitting it into the water below. Then he offered it to her. "Here, wash your mouth out. You will feel better."

Holly nodded to him as she took the flask, repeating his actions. "Many thanks…" she said, returning it to him.

_See? Still a good man. Annoying from time to time, but still good._

"The mist is heavy, but I believe I see the outlines of the cliffs near here…" he said to her, then pointed ahead. "The docks will be away from the cliffs. The workers will travel towards the east in order to reach the Crane Yards, but the place you want to go is still further west. If you stay along the coast, perhaps you'll find what you are looking for." He said, then glanced back at her. "But I urge you… let me come with you. You don't know what could be out there, Holly…"

…_Still a stubborn bastard…_

"No Mircea." Was her reply. "I must do this alone. You must understand."

Mircea sighed and crossed his arms. "…Is there really no way to convince you?"

Holly chuckled. "Stupid question."

"I don't want to have to return to my wife with bad news. If you come back injured, or if you do not come back at all…"

"Son," Holly brushed the hair out of her face. "I have survived this long. I don't plan on dying now. Wait for me here. I will return to you."

The boat docked within forty minutes. In that time, the high cliffs had come into view completely, towering over the ship as it pulled into the small harbor. The workers began to file out of the ship and make their way towards a path leading to the east. This was Holly's opportunity.

_To the West. Stick to the coast._ She thought to herself.

One hand moved to her chest. Her palm rested above the hidden Nexus Stone. She had come this far and it was time to go all the way.

"Let's go." She whispered to herself and took a step forward.

The Abode of the Witch lay beyond the Canyons, and traveling there by foot would have been far more difficult than she could have imagined. She had learned from both Mircea and the merchants that travelers were always at risk of being mugged and ambushed by thieves and rogues. There were also many rumors about strange beasts that preyed upon invading humans.

But it wasn't until Holly saw these beasts for herself that she realized the rumors were true.

There was a large insect, similar to that a very big spider, laying flat on it's back. The legs were curled and the body was motionless, and a strange fluid was oozing from a gaping wound in it's back. The red fluid was obviously blood, but a much thicker, green fluid was present as well. It took Holly a few moments to build up the courage to investigate the dead creature closer.

It had many legs, just like a spider, but the legs ended at a very sharp tip. Curiosity got the best of her and she tapped her fingers against the legs. This creature either had a very hard shell or the bones of the legs were incredibly strong. Perhaps strong enough to injure a human.

_Look at the size of this creature, Holly. It could hurt a human. It probably already has._

"…Would it be hopeless for me to pray that there are not more than one of these…" she thought to herself as she observed the creature's teeth and eyes. Strangely enough, the eye?s were also oozing out that strange green liquid, as was the mouth. But what was it?

Regardless of what it was, there was no need for her to waste her time dealing with an ugly, dead bug. She was ready to leave and continue on her way before she eyed the leg again.

…_I wonder…_

She took a quick glance around her. Then she moved to the creature's leg. Both of her hands clamped onto it and her foot planted itself onto the monster's body. Using all of her body weight, she tugged and pulled onto the creature's leg, hearing it crack at first, then tear. This was not an easy thing to accomplish. Not only was it difficult to disconnect the leg from the body, but to uncurl it so that it could be properly used. The leg was at least seven feet in length and Holly had to remove a portion of the leg in order for it to be at least five to four feet in length. Within a few long moments, she held the strange appendage in her hands like a club, and continued on her way.

_Better than going ahead unarmed_.

"…Too bad I was never a very skilled fighter. I left that to Vladmir."

_Yes, but if anything, a sneak-attack has proved to work in your favor._

"…Yes, that is very true…"

There was a sound up ahead. She stopped in her tracks, then made a quick dash to hide behind a few large boulders.

_In order for sneak attacks to work, perhaps you could stop talking out loud._

She was quiet, holding her breath, not making any sudden movements that would attract attention or make noise. After a moment, she peered over the rocks. Her eyes widened at what she saw.

Two of the workers from the Crane Yards had made it this far. And surrounding them were two carbon copies of the monster Holly had found. Except these two were very much alive and hovered across the ground very much like a fly or bee. And Holly watched in horror as the monsters attacked the two workers, killing them both with only a single slash of their strong, sharp legs. And then they began to feast on them.

Holly glanced at the make-shift weapon in her hands. Then she looked at the monsters feeding on the now dead humans.

_…There is nothing you can do for them. There are two monsters, and you would be lucky if you can kill even one. If you make one mistake, your life will be over in an instant._

She bit down on her lower lip and glared at the ground. The sounds of the creatures feasting made her sick to her stomach. The entire notion of feeling so helpless and so inferior angered her. But her rational side simply repeated that statement over and over: there was nothing she can do, fighting them would be suicide.

_…They are distracted. Go. They will not see you._

She took a deep breath, and then began to move. There were several rocks and some elevation between she and the monsters. If she was quick and quiet, she could slip pass the monsters without them ever noticing. In order to do this, she made several stops to hide behind rocks. She had to be stealthy and quiet, and also made an effort to make sure that she was walking into the wind. If her scent traveled into the air and made it to the noses or feelers of the monsters, her stealth would not save her.

The sounds of the feasting grew louder as she drew near. The smell of the dead lingered in the air and almost made her sick. She held her breath, tried desperately not to inhale the smell of the blood and tried to ignore the sounds of the monsters. The clicking and skittering of their feet as they moved around the corpses sent shivers down her spine.

_I hate bugs… I have always hated bugs…_

She continued to move, making sure to keep a good distance between herself and the monsters. Within only a few moments, managed to make it pass them. Holly hid herself behind another group of rocks to watch their reaction, and saw that as they finished eating, they began to move farther away from her.

This was not the first time she encountered this situation. Each time was harder to evade the monsters. There were times where she was so close she could almost smell the strange, alien scent of the insect. There were times when pebbles would shift or a rock would slide, and she was positive that it would have caught their attention.

Perhaps it was the dead humans that kept her going. She did not want to end up like them. She kept thinking about Mircea's offer to protect her, about his fear of returning to Magdalena with bad news. She could not let that happen.

_Keep going…_

She had been traveling for at least two hours, perhaps more. At first she was worried that she was lost. Perhaps there was no Abode of the Witch. Perhaps _those_ rumors were just rumors after all. With every passing hour, she promised herself that if she did not see anything, she would return to the ship. But with every passing hour, she knew that she was only lying to herself.

_She has to be here…_

It was growing darker. Mist was building and thickening as time rolled by, and there was still nothing but the howling cold wind and the sounds of the ocean against the rocks.

And then she saw a light. A light that belonged to a small shack built along the cliffs.

…_The Abode of the Witch… _


	17. Chapter 17

**Lacrimosa**

"...You are either very brave or very foolish, human..." her voice was soft, but not friendly. "I did not send for you, and still you come, despite all the obstacles in your path. The sea, the monsters, the human corpses..."

Holly stood in the threshold of a surprisingly humble abode. It was small, yet looked comfortable. There was nothing extravagant about this creature's home or her belongings, and yet she looked as though she had all that she needed.

But the witch herself was unlike anything Holly had expected. Her body was humanoid in shape, had the natural curves of a female, and yet looked very much like some kind of monster. Her skin was a very light shade of brown, her hair was a darker shade of brown, and her ears were large and pointed, similiar to that of the vampire Vorador. Strange bone protrusions formed on her back and elbows, and the witch stood at least six feet tall. Her demonic appearance, unfriendly tone, and unusual height, made her intimidating. Holly could not help but notice that the woman's eyes were focused entirely on the weapon in her hand. The human woman glanced down at it for a second, realizing that it was probably disrespectful to show up uninvented to someone's home armed with a weapon.

But she did not want to let it out of her hands. Still, if she was going to ask this woman for her help, it was better to use a carrot rather than a stick. Reluctantly, she put it down.

"I have come a long way to see you, yes..." Holly said honestly, but did not step into the witch's home. She was not invited, after all. It would be rude to barge in. "...I understand how frustrating it must be to show up uninvited, but... I need your help."

The creature before her chuckled, visibly amused with the human before her. She gestured with her hand for Holly to move inside. Once she did, the witch waved her hand and the door closed behind her.

"A dangerous game you play, Lady Angela." she giggled, watching as Holly's body twitched in surprise at this woman's knowledge.

"...You know me?" she asked, stepping closer to her. The book said that the witch was a Seer, that her knowledge and power of foresight was unbelievable. It was the reason Holly came to her in the first place, and yet...

"Better than you know yourself..." was the response. "You came to me for my knowledge, I know this. But I wonder... what would your lord say should he have discovered his darling Sarafan wide was doing business with one such as I?"

Holly immediately went stiff. Of all the things she expected this woman to know, Vladmir was not one of them. Perhaps she should have expected this, or prepared herself for it. The moment she stepped into the Seer's home, her mind was an open door to this creature. She could see and know everything Holly felt, thought, and knew. The Seer could probably hear all of the degrading, hurtful things Holly was mentally calling her for even thinking of mentioning her husband. She could probably feel her injured pride, knowing that Holly hated being desperate enough to seek a demon for assistance. But regardless of what this creature knew about her, Holly had come this far. She was not going to mess this up now.

"...My Lord cannot say anything. I am certain you know the reason for this." was her response.

The Seer tilted her head to the side, looking over the human before her. Her height gave Holly the feeling of being observed as though she were a small animal, or some sort of experiment, or at least that is what her thoughts told the Seer. There was so much anger, so many emotions and thoughts rushing through the mind of this one creature, and despite all that, she still had some courtesy to address the witch with respect and tact.

It was intriguing, if anything.

"...Yes, I understand his current situation..." she said, stepping closer to Holly to observe her closer. "...I see it has left quite a nasty scar on you..."

Just as Holly began to feel that familiar pang of heartache for her husband, the Seer did something unexpected: her long fingers pressed against Holly's nose. Upon contact, there was a cracking noise and Holly screamed in pain. Both hands slapped onto the bridge of her nose and she felt two big streams of blood gush from her nostrils. She was dubbed over in pain, shaking in shock and disbelief, and then heard the Seer chuckling at her.

"...He would not have liked you to have a crooked nose." she laughed, her large hand smoothing across Holly's back as the human finally regained her composure.

Her fingers brushed across her nose, feeling that it had straightened. Her watering eyes lifted to look up at the witch who was smirking down at her. For a few moment Holly could not say anything, giving the Seer the opportunity to say more.

"...He was also very lucky to have you. You are a strong woman, more than you realize. Your daughters are very fortunate, for they will also carry on that same strength. And so shall their children..."

_Is this why her visitors go mad? _Holly thought to herself, staring up at the Seer with very large eyes. She wiped the blood from her nose and tried to make herself look presentable again.

The Seer chuckled. "It is a possibility."

Holly groaned at that statement. She was a very private person, and it was uncomfortable to be infront of a person who had access into her mind and thoughts. It unnerved her that a demon would know about her daughters and grandchildren when Holly went through all the trouble of keeping them hidden. She should have been happy that the Seer was seemingly kind enough to sing her family praises, but had a horrible feeling that she probably knew far more about her family than just their inner strength. Did she know their future? She must know. Immediately thoughts of tragic endings for her family rushed through her head and she could not help but want confirmation of these future events.

Regardless of that, she did not come here for fortune telling. For some reason or another, she had amused this creature. Perhaps now would be a good time to ask for her help. Without further delay, she reached beneath her robes and removed the Nexus Stone. She held it in her hands, showing it to the Seer.

"...I came here to ask you about this... I know what it is... I need to know what it can do. Please..."

The Seer gazed down upon the stone. One of her hands lowered upon it, simply touching the surface of the jewel rather than taking it into her possession. After a moment, she gazed into Holly's eyes. The stare was powerful, and for a moment Holly feared as if she had done something to offend the witch.

"...You have angered a great many people with this risky decision." the Seer chuckled. "...You have single handedly interfered with Kain's mission. He has not achieved a Dark Gift because of your meddling, and because he is without this prize, he is still not ready to face his opponent." she smirked at the woman. "You should know that he is out for your blood. It is not in his nature to forgive."

"If you know me as well as you claim, this should not be a surprise. I am very unpopular these days. Especially to vampires." was Holly's reply.

"Quite." the Seer chuckled, then removed her hand from the stone. "Hm... that will make things interesting, I am certain. You will find solace in a being that you least expect. You are proud and devoted to the memory of Sir Vladmir, so you will not love him, but you will respect him and treasure him for eternity. As such, he will hold you dear to his heart, and will need you when the time comes. And when that time comes, you will trust in him... and you will give your all to help him."

Holly looked completely astonished for a moment. A being? The Seer did not say that this person was a man, but a "being." What did this mean? She knew she would never put her trust in a vampire. Would it be a creature like the Seer? But what exactly _was_ the Seer? And it worried her so much that this creature knew the future so well. There was always the possibility that perhaps she was lying. Perhaps she was trying to manipulate Holly... but everything she said... everything felt as if it had some kind of truth to it.

_...She isn't lying, is she?_

"I am not." the Seer replied, catching Holly off guard once more. She chuckled, and then placed her fingers on the Nexus Stone once more. "Worry not about the future. For now, the stone..."

Holly stiffened. For a moment she wanted to ask further about the future. About this being that the Seer spoke of. About this "time" that would come where she would "give her all to help him." It took her a moment to realize that she did not come here for those stories. She came here for information on the stone. And she was lucky that, for some reason or another, the Seer agreed to help her.

"...Thank you." Holly said, causing the woman to smile at her.

"...You know of this stone's power: it repels the magic of the Soul Reaver. This is why your vampire enemies desire it so. But there are many other purposes it holds." using both of her hands, the Seer traced her fingers across the stone as she spoke, as if gazing into a crystal ball to see the future. "It can bend time and space, creating doorways to any location within Nosgoth."

_Information I wish I had before I had to travel across a bloody ocean to get to you._

"I can imagine."

_...Damn it, Holly. Stop thinking so much. It's not like she can't hear you._

"...You are a very damaged creature." the Seer looked Holly over once more before one hand moved to touch the woman's face. Naturally Holly flinched away from her, causing the Seer to only brush a few strands of hair, but the witch did not seem offended by this. "...My magic may heal scars and broken noses, but there is nothing I can do for a damaged mind."

"As long as it does not interfere with my line of work, I don't care how unusual I am." was Holly's reply, then she glanced back at the stone. "...How does one use the stone to travel?"

"Preferably with a large energy source. It came from the Industrial Quarter, did it not? The machines must have powered it, but... perhaps there is a way to power it without resorting to such drastic means." the Seer explained before turning away from Holly.

She extended her arm and with a simply motion of her fingers, a small desk began to rumble from across the room. One of the drawers opened, and a strange talisman floated through the air and landed into her hand. She held the orichalcum against her chest for a moment before holding it out to Holly. Upon it was a very strange design that abstractly resembled a skull. However, it was glowing a very bright green color within the lines of that design. Holly recognized it immediately.

"Wait... isn't this..."

"Glyph Energy? Yes." the Seer explained before attaching the talisman to Holly's breast. After that, she placed the Nexus Stone ontop of it. Instantly, the stone began to glow. "With larger supplies of energy, it can open portals. With this smaller amount of energy, it may only transfer one or two individuals. This will be important for you in the near future. But there is more..."

The Seer placed her hand on Holly's shoulder and stared back into her eyes once more. "This is very important... without this stone, your people will not be safe. There is... a gateway of sorts, one that opens to a dimension of evil. Slowly by surely this gateway is opening, and in order to close it and protect this land, you will need to use this stone. That time is coming sooner than you can imagine. When you meet that person, the one who will need you, he will tell you more, and perhaps at that time, your heart will be more at ease. You will listen to him, and perhaps he will be able to reach you in a way I cannot. When that time comes, you will know what to do."

The Seer was kind enough to offer Holly a few moments to take all of this information in. The human was not expecting this. She thought that this stone would help her in her fight against the vampires, but now there was talk of another enemy? Another dimension opening into this one? How this stone would be used to close this dimension? She placed a hand on her forehead and glanced down at the floor, trying to take all of this in.

"…What is in this dimension?" Holly asked, looking up at the Seer.

"An enemy greater than that of the vampire." The Seer explained, then touched the woman's shoulder. "When you speak to your future comrade, he will tell you more. Now… as I have helped you and told you all that you need to hear, it is time for payment."

At that, Holly's face fell into the palm of her hand. _…Of course. Payment. Of all time for me to come here without nearly the amount of money to satisfy this woman, assuming it's money she wants._

"It isn't." was the Seer's response to her thoughts. When Holly lifted her head, the Seer was staring down at her, but this time, her gaze had altered. It wasn't as fierce as it had been before. On the contrary, she looked quite gentle.

"…What is that look for?" Holly asked, her voice visibly irritated and suspicious.

The Seer smirked and moved closer. Holly did not step back, despite the fact that the lack of distance between them was unnerving. "My kind has changed over the many centuries. We now know nothing of a bond between two creatures on such an emotional level. Both emotions and affections are unknown to us in this century."

Her hand extended and touched Holly's curly hair, if only because she knew the human would not allow her to touch her face. "…But I have looked into your mind, and I see that devotion you still keep for a being that has been dead for ages. Is this the expression of love? Longing? Unfulfilled lust? Is it something more?"

Holly glanced at the Seer's hand, than back into the face of the demon before her. She did not like where this was going at all. "….Do you want me to explain myself to you?"

The Seer only laughed. "There isn't a thought rushing through your mind that I cannot and have not read since the moment you stepped into my home. Explanations would be unnecessary. Instead, I want you to show me these emotions. I have helped you, and now I demand payment." The Seer chuckled as Holly's expression changed from irritation to disgust. Regardless, she continued. "Never fear. I will not ask for much. I will be satisfied with just a kiss."

To the Seer, Holly's expression was absolutely priceless. The fact that she had managed to render this human's otherwise active mind silent was also quite amusing.

"…_Excuse_ me?" Holly could barely force the words through her gritted teeth. The Seer placed a hand over her lips to stifle her giggling.

"You have not kissed a woman, I assume? Does the thought disgust you so?" she asked.

Holly's eyebrows furrowed and her eyes narrowed. "I am more concerned with the idea of interspecies erotica more than kissing another woman."

"Indeed," the Seer chuckled before brushing her own hair out of her face. "Nevertheless, beggars cannot be choosers. I demand payment, and it would be unwise not to give it to me. And I demand a kiss… if it helps you, I could always alter my appearance. Perhaps a handsome human male? Or perhaps your lord?"

Despite her best effort, Holly could not contain herself. She could not stand to hear this monster speak of her husband. Without thinking, Holly rose her arm and pointed into the Seer's face.

"If you ever _think_ of using my husband's face to bribe me into playing your little game-"

But the Seer responded by grabbing onto Holly's wrist. Her hand was large and strong compared to Holly's, but the Seer did not look offended or angry at this outburst.

"Spare me your threats, human. They will get you nowhere." The Seer said, and then pulled her closer. "You have no affection towards me. Kissing you as I am would not stimulate those emotions in your that I wish to experience."

Using her other hand, this time she brushed the hair out of Holly's face. Despite Holly's anger, she did not move, nor resisted her at this moment.

_You should be happy she didn't kill you then and there for that. Maybe you should just get this over with._

"That would be a wise decision." The Seer answered and Holly glared at her.

"_Stop that_." She snapped, then glared at the ground. After a few moment, she sighed. "…You have helped me even when I arrived uninvited. I am grateful to you and I will not cheat you out of your payment, which you have earned. But… must it be this?"

The Seer smirked and touched Holly's face again, perhaps relishing the idea that this proud human woman was allowing her to do so. "Yes. It is something I want very much."

Holly sighed. There was no way around this.

…_You will not take the form of my husband. I will make do with my imagination._

To her surprise, the Seer did not reply to that statement. And Holly took a deep breath.

At that time the Seer's grip on the human woman's wrist had lessened, but did not release her. However, the hand holding onto Holly's wrist felt different… smaller. When she looked up, she saw that she was staring into the face of what appeared to be a very tall human woman. The Seer hadn't altered into the appearance of Vladmir, but instead took on the appearance of an olive-toned, sultry human female with long black hair and bright green eyes.

The Seer had given her this small amount of mercy. It was Holly's turn to repay her. After another deep breath, she cleared her mind, trying to rid her thoughts of spiteful, angry emotions and focus on something stronger. Her mind traveled back to her wedding day, when she was a young, blushing bride, excited and nervous for all the things that were to come: the marriage, the wedding night, a future with a husband and a family. And her memory returned to the thoughts of her groom.

Sir Vladmir Angela. He was older than she by thirteen years. She remembered his tawny skin and his short black hair. She remembered his small moustache and beard and how much fun she had playing with it as a young wife. She remembered how smooth and fine his hair felt beneath her fingers and the feel of his warm skin against hers.

These thoughts she kept with her as she closed her eyes and approached The Seer. Slowly she moved in, one hand moving to touch and caress the Seer's face. And after a moment of hesitation, she pressed her lips against hers.

The Seer's hands acted on their own, sliding up Holly's back and holding her closer as the woman kissed her deeply. One hand buried itself into her blonde hair, pulling her head closer as she returned this kiss. Holly's thoughts returned to the wedding night with her new husband, and the Seer's movements mimicked everything that she had remember Vladmir doing do her. The illusion seemed so real because of this. Holly's heart hammered in her chest, her hands moved to the Seer's chest, feeling the creature's heart against her palms. After a moment, the Seer had pulled away from this kiss and proceeded to pay homage to Holly's neck. She began with a sensitive place behind the human's ear, then kissed downward. The touch of her soft lips against Holly's skin sent shivers coursing through her. Her body felt an excitement and a rush that she hadn't felt in so long as the Seer's kisses moved towards her chest.

…It had been so long. And she surrendered herself to the realization that not a day had passed her by where she did not miss her husband.

"Stop…" she whispered to the Seer.

To her surprise, the Witch did not continue this further. She pulled away, shifting back into her natural form, and watched Holly's reaction. The human woman turned away from her, wiping away fresh tears as they formed, never looking upon the Seer for a moment.

"…It felt so… _real…_" she whispered.

The Seer merely gazed upon her in silence for a few long moment before speaking again. "…He is truly irreplaceable for you. There is no one else who could take his place, is there?"

Holly stiffened again, then shook her head. "…Nobody."

The Seer approached her once more, but rather than touching the human, she placed her hand on the stone. "…You may return to the ship by speaking your orders aloud to the stone. But there is one place in which you must travel afterwards… when everything is situated with your son-in-law, order the stone to take you to a place known as The Device."

Holly looked up at the Seer in confusion for a moment. The Seer looked down at the stone, then back at the woman.

"There… you will meet that ally…"


	18. Chapter 18

**Lacrimosa**

She did not want to give Mircea a heart attack, as amusing as that idea might have been. So rather than using the stone to reappear before him, she reappeared elsewhere on the ship. As expected, Mircea was still on the main deck, playing "look out" for the ship while at the same time, awaiting her return. Holly smiled at his back before approaching him, allowing him to hear her footsteps. Her son in law turned to her, his expression changing from curiousity to surprise upon seeing her.

"Holly!" he gasped, turning completely around in order to face her. "What happened to you? How did you get aboard the ship?"

Holly rose her eyebrows at him. "...What happened to me?" she repeated his question, visibly confused by it.

Mircea approached her and his hand moved to her face. "Your.... your face is restored..." he said, his eyes raking over her entire face. "Your nose is healed, but... you look... pardon my bluntness, but you look… _lovely…_ what I mean is… Holly, you look at least ten years _younger_!"

_...I look like what?_

Immediately Holly's hands moved to her face. That confused expression had not left her for a moment, and recognizing this, Mircea took her by her hand and led her into their cabin. Upon stepping into their room, Holly approached the mirror in the bathroom, and gaped at what she saw infront of her.

She recognized herself: the shape of her face, the colors of her eyes, the same proportions, but Mircea had not been lying. Her hand passed over the skin of her face, her fingers tracing a path over the places where lines and wrinkles once were: the lines had all but faded, the wrinkles seemed to have gone away, the dark rings beneath her eyes became paler, even her skin looked healthier than it did before. All that had remained of her age were the whisps of white hair, which unfortunately seemed to have increased over time since her encounter with Sebastian.

But she _did_ look younger, at least by ten years or so.

_No... I look the way I did when Vladmir was still alive..._

"...Did The Seer do this?" Holly whispered to herself.

"The what...?" Mircea asked, but his words died in his throat. Holly turned to face him and saw that his face had paled, borderlining terror and outrage. "You went to see the Seer? The Witch!? This is what you came here for?!"

Holly merely gaped at him, then looked back at herself in the mirror. _...Why would she do this to me?_ she thought to herself, but after a moment, she merely smiled at her reflection.

"How can you smile about this, Holly!? Are you insane?" Mircea snapped, only causing Holly to smile more.

_Well, for one, I am smiling is because I know for a fact that I look good for my age..._ she chuckled at the thought. _But still... what purpose does this serve? I doubt the Seer would give me back my pretty, young face out of the kindness of her heart..._

With that thought, Holly's smile vanished. She looked back at Mircea, who looked about ready to strangle her. "...We have to leave. Now."

Before he could get another word out of his mouth, her hand latched onto his wrist. Her other hand moved to the Nexus Stone, and she spoke aloud: "To Magdalena."

Just as before, the stone reacted to her command. The blue jewel began to glow white, and the brightness of this strange light engulfed both Mircea and Holly until their forms vanished. Within a few seconds, Holly was met with the sound of a high-pitched, girlish scream, to which both she and Mircea winced at.

They had arrived in the kitchen of the Tepes residence. Magdalena had been setting the table for lunch when they had arrived, and the look on her face was that of horror. Upon recognizing her mother and husband, relief seemed to be overwhelming her.

"Mama...! Mircea...!" she gasped, looking between the two. "How did you... where did you... damn it!" she snapped, setting down the plates with more force than needed and moving her hands over her swelled stomach. "You scared me half to death! Do you want me to go into early labor!?"

Holly chuckled at her daughter before she glanced over at Mircea. His face was as pale as a sheet and his wide eyes gazed upon his wife with disbelief. He glanced at the floor, then his surroundings, then back to his wife. His mouth opened to form words that only came out in stammers and stutters, and then he turned his attention to Holly.

"We were in the ship… and now…" he looked to her, then back at Magdalena. Sensing his trouble, Magdalena moved to him, slipping her hands into his to reassure him that she was, in fact, before him. After taking a final long look at his wife, he whipped his head back to Holly. "What magic is this!? How are you able to do that!?"

Immediately Holly knew that she had explaining to do. For some reason it did not trouble her as much. She did not enjoy the fact that she had to lie to her daughter in order to get what she wanted, but now that she had the information she sought, there was no reason to hold onto this lie to her further. Without hesitation, she reached into her robes, withdrawing the Nexus Stone. Both Mircea and Magdalena looked upon it, then back to Holly.

"What is it?" Magdalena asked.

"It is called the Nexus Stone." Holly explained, then looked to Mircea. "It is how we were able to travel so quickly. It can transfer us to any place in Nosgoth."

"Is this what you were looking for? What Father left you?" her daughter asked, and with a sigh, Holly shook her head.

"It pains me to have had to lie to you, Magdalena, and there are things that you should be kept ignorant of, in order to further protect you and your family. But no… the reason I left for the cliffs was for an entirely different purpose…"

With that, Holly sat down at the table. Mircea and Magdalena followed her example, both gazing upon her intensely as her story unfolded. She confessed to stealing the Nexus Stone from the Industrial Quarter before she came to be with them. She told them of the information she had discovered within Vladmir's book, and of her talk with the Seer.

"She gave me the information I sought… she told me what the stone is for, what it must be used for, and where I must bring it…" Holly explained.

"Mother…" Magdalena's voice, though concerned, was uncharacteristically stern for an otherwise cheerful young woman. "…I can't believe you spoke with a monster. How can you be sure that her words are to be trusted? She could be leading you into a trap!"

Holly snorted. "I doubt that lying to me would benefit the Seer in any way. She could have very well killed me on the spot the moment I arrived at her door uninvited."

"But you don't know that!" Magdalena protested. "She could be using you! What if she wants you to use the stone for her benefit? What if you do what she says and something terrible happens?"

"Magdalena, my darling, I am a God damned _genius_. I am so bloody smart that I make smart people feel _elementary_. Do not assume for a moment that I did not weigh these options before I left her abode." Holly added, her tone also unusually stern. Magdalena quieted, though her displeasure was made very apparent. Holly sighed, and then continued:

"…I do not trust her entirely, and she is unlike any creature I have ever encountered. My senses are sharp, I usually know how to read people, but she is difficult to decipher. However, with all of her omniscience, I doubt that she is one to truly pick a side. She has little passion for these events and seems to enjoy keeping a neutral ground." Holly explained, then sighed. "…There is, however… a place I must go to, in order to learn more about this situation."

Mircea stood from the table. "Holly, you are playing a dangerous game. Perhaps the best idea would be to lock that item away and live your life here, with us." He said, placing his hand on Magdalena's shoulder. "Think of your daughters, and our children… if you go along with this, something could happen to you. Something they could not bear…"

Holly did not rise out of her seat. Her eyes focused on her daughter, who looked so conflicted and confused, as if she were having such difficulty processing all of this. It was unfair to spring this on her daughter all at once. That pang of guilt had returned full force, but Holly's eyes shifted to Mircea.

"I know this is dangerous." She said, raising her hand so he could view her fingertips and the bloody scabs that took the place of where her fingernails once were. "I know I could end up dead, or face something worse. I've had a taste of it, a sample of it… but I know there is something I must do. The Sarafan are under the control of a monster; I have known this from the moment he allowed vampires into the keep. Vampires, the very enemy our people are sworn to destroy and kill, and he let them into our base. The Seer speaks of an enemy worse than a vampire, and I can't help but feel that perhaps… perhaps it is the Sarafan Lord that she speaks of." She shook her head and clutched the Nexus Stone tightly. "He is not human… he is some kind of beast, and while my Sarafan brethren and the humans of Nosgoth are under his control, I know that we will never, truly be safe."

The room was quiet, and that silence was exceedingly uncomfortable. Magdalena took a deep breath before staring her mother back into her eyes. Holly's voice, Holly's entire _entity_ was intense, and determined. She knew her mother well enough to know that there would be no changing her mind.

"Mother…" Magdalena whispered, taking another deep breath. "…Burying Father was the worse thing I have ever had to endure…" her voice choked, and Holly saw tears welling up in her daughter's large eyes. After a moment of hesitation, Magdalena spoke again. "…You go… you go and do what you have to do… but don't you… don't you put me through that again. If you… if you come back, you come back to me _alive!_"

Her voice broke and Magdalena began to cry. Mircea moved his arm around her, and Holly approached her daughter, moving her arms around her as well. One hand stroked through her hair, trying to calm her and failing to do so. All the while, Holly's heart pounded in her chest and uncertainty took her over.

This decision was causing her child unimaginable pain. Should she give up on this mission? Should she simply do as Mircea said? Lock away the Nexus Stone, never look at it again, live her life out with her family? Become closer to her grandchildren, watch her third grandchild be born, help her daughter take care of the home while Mircea was away? Reassure her that he will come back safe and sound after his long, dangerous journeys? Live in secrecy, away from Meridian, away from the Sarafan Keep, away from the Sarafan Lord?

_...My loyalities are the same as my husband's. I swear my life, honor, and trust upon the Sarafan Brotherhood and the human race, just as he did in his lifetime… it is with pride that I continue my work to benefit the Sarafan in their battles… my allegiance is to my family and to my Brothers, and I dedicate my life to protect the human race from these demons. I swear upon my soul that every action I take until my very last breath will be to resist the oppressive hand of the vampire, and to aide in preserving the lives and freedoms of human race. I am no traitor, I am no vampire sympathizer. For as long as I shall remain a bountiful winepress in the eyes of the vampire, they shall always remain the enemy in mine…_

Holly sighed. Those were her words. That was her oath, one she swore her life upon. To protect the humans of Nosgoth with all of her might and power, until her very last breath. And only a fool would believe that this oath would not come with danger.

Or at a price…

Holly took a deep breath, and then kissed her daughter on the top of her head.

"…I will do what I have to do…" she whispered, then held her closer. "…I will give it my all, until the very end… _and I will return to you alive…"_


	19. Chapter 19

**Lacrimosa**

"...Be gone, dark one. I did not send for you."

"And yet, here I am."

"So I see... Kain, the Disruptor, the pebble in the pond who destroys all he touches..."

With the sudden departure of one uninvited visitor, the Seer had not expected the next one to come as soon as he did. She expected his arrival, yes, but to have one visitor leave just as the other had arrived had succeeded in keeping her on her toes, something that rarely occurred in her long life. Of course, leave it to the vampire general and a rogue Sarafan woman to bring excitement into her life.

"You know me, woman?" the vampire asked as he stepped into her home.

"Better than you know yourself, and I know why you are here..." was her reply.

Her eyes raked over his entire form: by vampire terms, he was young, and his youth had no doubt made him arrogant. Glancing into his future was an interesting task indeed, though she was rewarded with images of him in a more dignified image. Future centuries would change this arrogant boy into a great leader, perhaps a savior. The choices he would make were clouded, perhaps by his own future meddling, though she had no doubts that he would go on to conquer Nosgoth and perhaps one day, in his wise, old age, save it.

"You seek the Nexus Stone, do you not? It was here, not long ago." she confessed, seeing a slight change in his eyes as she mentioned the relic. "_She_ brought it to me."

She specifically mentioned the human to see the reaction he would give her. He did not disappoint. Kain's thoughts filled her mind of that moment in the Industrial Quarter: the battle with Sebastian, Holly's bruised, mangled face and her spiteful words as she tore the stone from it's membrane. Memories of the explosions, fire, electricity, and raw energy that burned and damaged him played out in her mind like a moving picture. Kain snarled, his long fangs clearly visible, and he spoke again.

"She was here…" he growled. "With the stone."

The Seer smiled, and it only served to taunt him further. "She is quite tenacious. Either brave or foolish, much like yourself."

"The pest knows not of what horrors await her when I reclaim the stone." Kain hissed, only to have the Seer fold her arms over her chest.

"You will do no such thing." Her reply was curt, taking the vampire by surprise. "You do not understand how important she is. There will be no victory for you without her."

"We shall see." Kain had managed to get in his comment before the Seer merely continued without him.

"You do not know what is in store for the both of you. She is part of your past, your future. Even when her mortal life has ended, her legacy will continue to defy you… though perhaps in ways she, and you, would not entirely understand."

"I care not of this woman's life." Kain spat. The vampire stepped towards her, his eyes hard, full of intimidation. She recognized this behavior: Vorador had displayed it several times before. Silly vampires, to think they could possibly intimidate a creature who knew her own fate, and how and where it ended.

"I am hoping that you have taken the stone from her, since you knew of my arrival." He snapped.

"I have not. I let her leave with it." the Seer chuckled, watching the rage build within Kain's entire being.

"I hope, for _your _sake, that you lie…" he hissed as he moved closer to her.

"While I appreciate your concern, I must disappoint you: I am telling the truth. She was here, and now she is gone, with the stone. But if it is the stone you want, it is the stone you will have." the Seer looked him over, as if something had obstructed her view into the vampire's mind. "...You know not of what the stone's purpose is."

"Indulge me." Kain hissed.

The Seer merely hummed in response. Her eyes were still raking over him, observing him as closely as she had observed Holly, taking in every thought and memory he had, and absorbing all of the shadowy images that made up his future. The Balance Guardian, the one responsible for the murders of the other eight Pillar Guardians. He was to build his empire from the dying world and build his throne upon the corrupted Pillar of Balance. In his shadowy future, she saw the silhouettes of six men, though their faces were unknown to her.

This was cryptic, but it provided her with a choice: she could dismiss this monster and send him away herself. Despite his strength and power, a young vampire was no match against one such as she.

Or… she could help him…

After a moment of deliberation, she smiled at him. "I shall help you. If Nosgoth is ever to be healed, the Device must be destroyed. You, of all men, could be the one to do this."

"The Device?" Kain repeated. "What is this thing? Explain."

"You know of the Nexus Stone's ability to open portals to other locations within these lands. The portal leads to an ancient device, deep underground, that will spell the destruction of this land and all who inhabit it. Know this: the Device has lain dormant beneath Meridian for time _beyond_ time. But now the Sarafan Lord has empowered the machine to unleash its destruction upon the land. The entrance to the Device lies in the heart of the city itself, under the very noses of the aristocracy… you will know the building by this sign."

Holding out her arm, Kain watched as The Seer's magic projected an image of a strange symbol. It consisted of a large, green circle with a large cross over it.

"You will see this more than once, but the first one will show you the entrance to the device. No human can operate it, but…" the Seer touched his face, "…a _vampire_ could."

Kain moved his face away from her hand, but did not show much contempt for the act. Her information was all that he had cared for. "What must I do?"

"Come here…" the Seer purred, then moved her hands to him. "Drink! Drink my blood, _now_."

The sudden command had caught the vampire off guard, causing the vampire lord to recoil slightly. "What manner of creature are you?" he snapped. "You are like no vampire that I have seen!"

Just as she opened her mouth to protest, the entire home was met with a strong impact, causing the building to tremble and shake. The smell of smoke began to linger around the abode. Once again, her third guest had arrived while she had been caught completely off guard. She observed Kain's face, seeing the aggression in his eyes and knowing that he was well aware of who waited outside of her home. Fire began to build and the wood began to crack and break within her home. The Sarafan Lord had wasted little time.

"He is here…" she whispered to Kain, her hand moving to his shoulder. "Do as I tell you. If you are to destroy the Device and save Nosgoth, you _must _drink."

Kain took a moment to glare into her eyes, but his mind held no confusion. Vampires were not one to deny blood that was offered to them. She felt his cold, dead hands against her warm skin and watched as he lowered his lips upon her wrists. His sharp teeth bit into the tender skin above the collection of bones, making it easier to penetrate. She felt a sting, a sharp pain, and with every pound of her heart, she felt her blood pouring into his mouth. His lips worked against her tender flesh, his tongue lapping and swirling over the small wounds.

Was he _intentionally_ trying to pleasure her? Well, there was only one way to pleasure him. His mind told her of his lust for power, and her blood would certainly grant him that. Her lips parted as she spoke once more,

"Ohh, good…" she moaned softly, sensing a spike of arousal within the vampire's subconscious. "Yes… drink, my Dark Prince... feel my powers coursing through your veins…"

He pushed her wrists closer to his mouth and for a moment she felt as though he were going to bite her again. His mind told her that he was tempted to, though their dangerous environment would prevent the time needed for more seduction. His mind also told her that, despite The Seer's beauty and sex appeal, her presence had very little to do with Kain's pleasure. It was the feeling of her blood entering him, of her own Dark Gifts channeling through his entire being, satisfying him, _empowering_ him. And she felt the disappointment within his mind as he pulled away from her, unable to finish draining her and taking more of her gifts.

Vampires will be vampires.

"…You can manipulate objects already by sheer will alone, but as you were taught, you can only use this ability at close range. By drinking my blood, you will be granted the gift of Telekinesis. You will be able to manipulate objects at a great distance, and you will be able to activate this symbol, and enter the Device..."

A second explosion rocked the tiny shack, and more flames engulfed the Seer's humble abode. Time was running out for them.

"He has found you. Your destiny draws even closer… for the both of you…" upon hearing her words, Kain shot a look of both spite and curiosity at her. She did not press on that matter further. "I will transport you to the Device. From there, use your newfound ability to gain entrance... goodbye Kain."

Before his words could begin to manifest, the vampire felt himself engulfed in a white light. His body became weightless and transparent, his mind went blank, and then he felt his entire entity being pulled to a new location…


	20. Chapter 20

**Lacrimosa**

Holly had soon discovered just how convenient the Nexus Stone could be when she appeared within the home of her daughter, Lilianna, for the first time in a year. To her great relief, the home was intact and everybody in the household was asleep in their beds. Alive and safe.

She walked into the room of her grandson, Anthony. He was a little over a year old, still as precious and as innocent as he was the day she first saw him. He was the first one to be transported into Magdalena's home. After setting the sleeping child into the unoccupied crib of Magdalena's unborn baby, she returned to Lilianna's home, reappearing this time in her daughter's chamber.

Unlike Magdalena, Lilianna shared a much stronger resemblance with her mother. Her skin was as pale as Holly's, and long, thick, blonde curls poured from her head. Beside her was her husband, Cassio Tybalt. His skin was olive-toned and his head held very little hair. Across his face was a very large scar that deterred his otherwise attractive, young face. Lili had wrote to her explaining that Cassio had found a job as a factory worker, and a terrible accident occurred when one of the machines overheated.

_Lili was never one to let someone's physical appearance deter her affection for them…_

"She's a good girl…" Holly whispered to herself before placing her hands on her daughter. "The guest room…"

In a flash, she and Lili reappeared in Magdalena's home. Lili, still fast asleep, was laying on the spare bed. Holly disappeared again and reappeared with Lili's husband, who was now resting beside her.

They lived too close to Meridian. Should Holly fail her mission and be discovered, Lili's home could be the first place the Sarafan Lord would look for her. Even if she did destroy the records, even if she made it damn near impossible for them to find Lili and her family, Holly couldn't take the risk. At least if they took refuge in Magdalena's home, the Sarafan soldiers would have to go out of their way and travel a great distance in order to reach them.

With her family safe, Holly had to make one final destination before she followed the Seer's instructions and traveled to the Device.

She was going to get her weapons back.

"My laboratory." She whispered to the stone. The feeling of weightlessness overcame her, as if her body was somehow transformed into white light. Then came the familiar feeling of her mind rushing ahead of her, and when she reopened her eyes a moment later…

"…What in the hell did they do to my lab?"

…She recognized her former sanctuary and knew instantly that she was within the walls of the Sarafan Keep. But everything in her lab was completely rearranged. New tools and equipment replaced hers, and several crates were packed up along the walls. When she observed the doors within in lab, she noticed that her Ward Gates had been torn down. All of her machines, targets, and weapon prototypes had been removed. Apparently the Sarafan Lord had no trouble replacing her when she suddenly "went missing," and it didn't take long for her to discover her replacement.

The person in question was an older man, perhaps sixty or nearing seventy. Holly approached him without using the slightest amount of stealth and realized that the man could not hear her. He was bent over his work, fully absorbed in making a weapon. Curiousity got the best of her, and Holly found herself peering over his shoulder. The lighting in the room prevented a shadow from being cast over him, and his own lack of hearing did not give her away.

…_Are you kidding me?_

This old man held in his old shriveled hands her handheld cannon. Judging by the debris on the worktable, she knew that he had taken apart the prototype and had put it back together again. Within a few moments, she watched him take the weapon into his arms, light the wick, and pulled back on the trigger. The handheld cannon blasted into the wall across the room and the man's body jerked backwards. Apparently he hadn't been able to work out that big kick the recoil delivered.

"…How in the world did she even think to make such a thing…?" the man muttered to himself before returning to his work. "…woman was bloody brilliant…"

_Flattery will get you everywhere._

"But not when he's screwing with hours upon hours of my hard work."

Holly sighed and placed her hand on the man's shoulder. He jumped so quickly that she was afraid that she had killed him. When he turned around, his jaw dropped. Even if the Seer had altered her appearance a bit, she knew this man had recognized her. Holly sighed, then leaned over to take the weapon into her arms. She picked up one of the cannonballs he had laid out on the worktable and loaded the cannon.

"You made quite a mess out of my lab," she said to him, though she wasn't entirely sure if he could completely hear her. "And I'm hoping that you didn't screw with my fire-thrower."

Without asking for his permission, she snatched up his matches, lit the wick, and opened fire on another wall. Ultimately, to her surprise, the recoil didn't seem nearly as bad as it did before. She rose an eyebrow and eyed her cannon before looking back at the old man. When he had fired it, the recoil nearly knocked him out of his seat. When she fired it, she barely felt any recoil at all.

_…Did the Seer give me strength as well? I honestly don't know what I should think about this. She didn't seem to be the charitable sort…_

She lowered her weapon, and then looked to the old man. "Sir, can you hear me?" He looked stunned, perhaps afraid, but nodded at her. "Good. Show me where my ammunition is. Tell me where my fire-thrower is. And I pray to the Gods that you did not let them throw them away."

He shook his head. "…No, madam… I did not let them throw them away…" he stammered. After a moment of fumbling around, he stood up. "F…Follow me…"

He was telling the truth. He led her to one of the large crates and she found her fire-thrower, still perfectly intact. She pulled it out and slipped it onto her back. With the help of the old man, he reopened another crate that was full of the oil supply and the ammunition that she would need to operate these weapons.

…Then she noticed something. It had been so long since she had stepped into this lab, but she remembered it like the back of her hand. In the far corner of the room was the small chamber that operated the ward gates throughout Meridian. The last time she had used it, she had shut down the Ward Gates within the home of the Bishop.

…_I wonder…_

"Madam…?" the old man's voice rose, but for the moment, Holly ignored him. She slipped into that small chamber and overlooked the grid.

Her fingers traced over the locations within Meridian: the Slums, the Smuggler's Den, the Lower City, the Upper City, the Industrial Quarter, and the Sarafan Keep. Far beyond the Lower City was the section known as The Wharves. The Seer told her very little about the Device, and as such, it was not present on this grid, but she did notice something troubling. Every section was on complete lockdown: every Ward Gate in Meridian was operating. The orbs on the grid were all glowing brightly… this had to have meant that the struggle between the Sarafan and the Vampire Resistance was only getting worse.

Or perhaps it was something beyond that. The Seer had warned her of an evil worse than the vampires. Perhaps this high amount of security had something to do with that…

…_I have a feeling I shall be returning to this place… soon enough…_

After a long moment of silence, she turned to the old man. "Another thing," she said to him. "I see you carry matches on you… please tell me you have a cigarette."

The man blinked at her with surprise, then eyed the fire-thrower attached to her back. "…I don't think it would be a good idea to have an open flame near all that oil."

"Would you like to know how bad a cannonball to your leg is going to hurt?" Holly asked while casually aiming her cannon to his thigh. Immediately he surrendered his cigars. They were a bit strong, but they succeeded in calming her nerves. It had been forever since she had the tobacco take away the edge.

_Tastes great…_ she thought to herself, then nodded to the old man. "Thank you, kindly… and I was never here. Is that understood?"

He nodded. She smiled at him. "The Device."

The lightness returned, and when she opened her eyes again, her jaw dropped. She felt the cigar fall from her mouth and her eyes grow large.

"…What in _hell…_" she barely got the words out as her hands fumbled to load and aim her cannon.

Standing before her was the most grotesque _thing_ she had ever seen, rivaling even that of the demons she had encountered in the Canyons. The monster was large and extremely deformed: bones on it's face and limbs were protruding from the leathery, dry skin. Large muscles were visible, and the front legs had a pair of very large claws. The back legs, however, were extremely thin and without feet. The monster looked weak and in constant pain, and after a moment, Holly realized that it was attached to several machines and tubes.

…_What on Earth…_ she reluctantly took a step forward. _My God, what are they trying to accomplish with…this…!_

Upon hearing her steps, the monster began to react. It's bony mouth opened, forcing out a pained cough before lifting it's head in her direction. Holly jumped in her surprise and took aim at the beast.

"Who disturbs me… not one of my captors…" the voice was weak, without any energy. "…You… woman… why are you here? To cause me… further torment?"

She noticed that his sunken eyes were focused on her weapon. Though his voice was truly pitiful, she did not lower her weapon until she noticed that a Ward Gate was between them. Very slowly, she lowered her cannon. The monster watched her closely, observing her movements as she stepped further into the room and scanned her surroundings. There were three doors: a large one leading outside, and two smaller ones that perhaps led deeper into the Device. All around her were strange machines, all intertwined and somehow channeling into the monster before her. When he seemed exhausted, the machines seemed to lag and work slowly. She discovered that when he rose onto his legs, trying to summon any strength his weakened body may have had, the machines worked faster, as if sucking the life right out of him.

"Don't do that." The words forced their way out of her mouth before she could stop them, taking the two of them by surprise. "…There's no need for you to injure yourself for my sake. I don't see a reason to kill you…"

_Why did that sound so out of character?_

"You are concerned for me? For my pain?" the beast coughed again before lowering himself onto his stomach, obliging her request. "…Unusual behavior for a human… I assume you must be Sarafan…"

Holly nodded. "Indeed." She said, and then approached the Ward Gate. She noticed the beast shifted his body slightly in order to face her. "…What are you? Who put you in here?"

He did not reply right away. Holly noticed that his eyes, though sunken and dead in almost every respect of the word, were focused hard on her. He was suspicious. Any supernatural creature would be in the presence of a Sarafan. He didn't know what to make of her right away, that much she knew. With a sigh, Holly slipped out another one of the old man's cigars and lit it. It bothered her that she had let the other one go to waste on the dirty floor, but within a few seconds, she felt her body and mind relaxing.

…_The Seer told me about an ally I would meet…_ she thought to herself before her eyes fell back on the monster. _She called him a 'being…' could it be this beast?_

"The Nexus Stone…" His words interrupted her thoughts. "That stone… around your neck… it is, the Nexus Stone, is it not?"

Holly looked down and one hand stroked the gem. "Oh this?" she said, still holding the cigar between her teeth. "Yes… I used it to come here… The Seer told me that it serves a greater purpose, however…" she looked up at him. "…Perhaps you can tell me?"

The beast grunted. "Why did you take the time to steal an item that you know nothing about?"

"Easy; it was important to my enemies, and I figured I'd better not let either of them have it." Holly's response was quick and sharp, and the beast noticed a hint of frustration in her tone.

"…Enemies…" the beast repeated. "…I imagine the Sarafan would have many enemies. To which enemies do you speak of?"

"The Vampire Kain…" Holly said, then hesitated for a moment. "…And the Sarafan Lord."

She would be lying if she said she wasn't expecting a reaction from him, but the reaction she received only served to trouble her. His head whipped upwards and his muscles immediately flexed, as if he was about ready to attack her. As such, the machines connected to the beast began to operate faster as he forced himself onto his strong front claws. Again, Holly took aim with her cannon. As long as the Ward Gate was there, she knew he could not get to her, but that didn't mean she was going to make herself vulnerable.

"Kain…!" the beast coughed, his voice not exactly threatening but very serious. "The Vampire Kain… he lives…?"

_He didn't know… well, it only makes sense. I doubt he receives much word from the outside…_

Holly nodded to him. After surviving the battle against the Sarafan Lord, she doubted that her actions would have been enough to kill him. The Seer did say that he was out for her blood. With her own troubles concerning her family, she never really took the moment to let this realization sink in until now.

"Friend of yours?" she asked the beast before glaring at him. "For heaven's sake, would you lay down!" she snapped, taking another step towards the ward gate. "The more you move, the more that bloody machine wears you out! Do you want to kill yourself?"

The beast responded by growling in her direction. Holly merely glared harder at him. After a few moments, the beast obliged her and lowered back onto his stomach. Holly sighed and shook her head.

"Don't get yourself so riled up," she said. "…I have it on good authority that I will be needing you. I wouldn't want you in worse condition than you're already in."

"Cold… selfish…" the beast sighed. "You concern yourself with my health simply because it will benefit you."

"On the contrary, I'm told that any information I may receive from you may very well save this land and the people in it." Was her retort. Her hand moved over the Nexus Stone again. "I spoke with a seer before I came here. She told me to come here… that I would find someone who could help me. I'm guessing," she sighed, then looked back to him, "…I'm guessing that this 'someone' is you."

The beast was silent. He kept his eyes on her at all times. For a moment the two just gazed at each other. Holly was beginning to realize just how damaged this creature was. Those machines had to be damaging him in a way she couldn't fathom, and judging by his condition, she figured he must have been here for a long time. A few long days of torture with Sebastian was enough to change her forever, and if it wasn't for the Seer, perhaps she would be worse off. She couldn't begin to imagine what sort of physical and psychological torture this creature must have endured.

With a sigh, Holly lifted her eyes from the beast's gaze and allowed them to trail along the wires that led into the machines. Her eyes traveled along the ceiling and then to the central machine built into the walls. She placed her hands on her hips and slowly shook her head.

…_If that ward gate goes out, there's no telling what this monster will do… but I doubt I will get much out of him with him in this condition… _

Holly knelt down, lowering her cannon, and then rolled up her sleeves. "Alright…" she said, slipping the fire-thrower off of her back and laying it beside her cannon. "First thing is first: I'm going to turn that bloody machine off. And then we're going to talk."

The beast lifted his head once more, this time in surprise. He watched as the woman took a single step towards the machine before he opened his mouth to speak to her. But just as he was ready to force the words out, there came the familiar sound of a mechanical door opening, and footsteps approaching.

"…At last…"

Holly felt her heart skip a beat as she turned to face the speaker. And her face paled.

_Kain._


	21. Chapter 21

**Lacrimosa**

It happened so quickly. Within only a few short seconds, the entire room had erupted into chaos. For the beast, it was hard to determined what happened first. It looked as though Kain was about to speak, but his entire being looked eager to destroy her. At the same time, Holly had made a dash for the weapons she had lowered.

Just as she reached the cannon, Holly realized she wasn't going to have the time to use it. She took aim and pulled the trigger, only to realize that she needed to light the fuse in order for it to work, and that the matches were in her pockets. She made this realization just as Kain had leapt into the air and was coming down at her: as soon as she had made her move, he was already countering it. In a panic, she dashed out of the way, narrowly missing him but not gaining enough distance to feel safer. Holly shot out with her leg, kicking Kain in his ribs with enough strength to knock him onto his side. Just as he fell, she turned around to run away. Holly did not doubt that he would be able to quickly recover from his fall. She dove behind one of the large collections of pipes and wires near the beast's cage, praying that she was hidden from sight, if only for a moment.

_Light the wick right now!_

At that time, Holly realized that using a match was not the only way to light a wick. By some miracle, she hadn't dropped her cigar this time. Without removing it from her mouth, she used the fiery tip of the cigar to light the wick on the cannon. Just as it sparked, Holly took a deep breath. She couldn't afford to miss, and she knew this. She only had a select number of cannonballs. Every hit was going to count. She had to be careful...

After a moment, she pushed herself off of the wires and took aim in Kain's direction.

And she saw him sprinting right at her. His great speed caught her completely off guard and she was frozen with shock for a moment.

Without taking the time to focus on her target, she simply pointed the cannon in his general direction and pulled down on the trigger. The cannonball blasted in Kain's direction, hitting him directly in his chest. Because he was rushing directly at her, he did not have the time to dodge it. The force from the cannon was strong enough to make him fly back a few feet, much to his surprise. Blood burst from his wound as he struck the wall behind him.

_Reload! Now! _

"Right," Holly hissed to herself, her hand forcing into a small pack she had attached to her hip. With a quivering hand, she shoved a second cannonball into the barrel of the rifle. Just as she lit the wick a second time, she realized that Kain was much faster than she would have expected. She had taken her eyes off of him for a moment and he was already gone.

_No!_ Holly's eyes went wide, and her head turned right, then left, looking for him. _Where did he go!_

"_Here."_ A voice hissed, and immediately Holly turned to fire in the direction of the voice.

The cannon went off, and the cannonball missed Kain's head by mere centimeters. The vampire grabbed the cannon and thrust it forward, smashing it into Holly's face. The strike caused her to black out for a second and the cigar fell from her lips. When she didn't fall to the ground after the first blow, he hit her with the cannon again. The first strike had been directly between her eyes, the second one hit her on the bridge of her nose. She saw stars and wobbled a few steps backwards, almost losing her balance.

Then she felt Kain's claws slash in her direction. Acting completely on instinct, she leaned away from the swipe and unfortunately lost her footing. Horror flashed across her face as she found herself falling backwards.

_Damn!_

Her back struck the ground, the pain stunning her for a second. Kain glared down at her. He tossed the cannon to the side and from the corner of her eye, Holly saw the weapon skid across the floor to the other side of the room. Within the next second, she saw Kain rushing at her, reeling his leg backwards, ready to kick her. She twisted her body, rolling away from the kick and tried to get back onto her feet. But the vampire leapt at her, his claws coming down on her back. She heard her shirt rip, felt his claws cutting through her skin, and a pained yell escaped her.

"Your strange weapons were painful..." she heard him hiss, hate filling every word he spoke. "But you should have known it would take more than that to take me down." Kain hissed, and she felt his sharp claws grab a handful of her hair.

He yanked her head back and twisted her head to the side. Holly was fortunate enough to roll onto her back before he could break her neck, and found herself gazing up into the flaming red eyes of a vampire. His mouth opened wide and she saw his fangs extend, growing as long and as sharp as two large needles. Immediately her eyes went big and her hands shot upward, pushing against his throat. Kain hissed and using his other claw, swiped at her arms. In a spray of blood, her arms immediately fell helplessly to the ground, and Holly released another pained yell.

_Damn it! God damn it, Holly! Do something!_

That was when she felt something… itchy. Or at least, strangely irritated. After a second, that irritation started to burn. It took her a moment to realize that her bleeding arm had fallen on top of her fallen cigar when Kain had swiped them away.

…_Alright. How is this for something?_

With a hiss, Kain's mouth widened and his head thrust towards Holly's throat. In that time, her hand grabbed onto the cigar and she pushed it into his face. To her ultimate surprise, Kain's head whipped back and a very loud yell was forced out of him.

Holly's cigar had found it's way into his eye.

_And they said smoking would kill you. Looks like it just saved your ass._

This bought her a moment. She rolled onto her knees and made it to her feet, breaking into a run over to the cannon. She heard Kain curse her, then heard his footsteps approaching her. At that time, she had reached her cannon and broke into another run, desperately trying to find another spot to hide. This was not a simple task: the room was small, and the crevices and corners that could be used as decent hiding places were ones that would have to be reused over and over again. She didn't have the advantage in this battle.

With some luck, she managed to reload the cannon as she ran. Her hand then shoved it's way into her pocket, grabbing the matches. This was going to be more difficult: she knew he was gaining on her, and trying to run with a cannon under one arm and lighting a match at the same time without it going out was tricky. And unfortunately for her, the match went out as soon as it was lit.

_God damn it! Next time I'm upgrading the cannon so it sparks on it's own!_

His footsteps drew near. He was coming at her faster now... no. He was upon her. And it wouldn't take long...

_To hell with this!_

Suddenly she stopped in her place. Her hands gripped one end of the cannon and she twisted her body, swinging the cannon with both arms like a sword. Kain had been terribly close this time: the cannon passed over his outstretched arms and caught him on the side of his face. His head whipped to the side, stunned at this brash action. He growled, then grabbed onto the cannon again.

_I'll be damned if this bloody leech going to hit me in the face again!_

So she kicked him, though her foot did not reach her desired target. His strong arm slapped her leg away and she felt herself falling off balance once more. Her mind was cursing and screaming at her as she hit the ground again, and in her panic, she could only kick at him once more. This time, he caught her foot, and after throwing her cannon to the side again, snarled down at her. His body twisted and he began to drag her across the floor, bringing her out into the open. At this point, Holly's heart was pounding in her chest. Her hands tried to grab onto the nearest pipes and cracks in the floor, but the vampire was too strong.

He was going to take her away from her potential hiding places, and was going to butcher her on the spot. She _knew_ it.

_I need a miracle. I need a goddamned, bloody miracle and I need it right now!_

In the back of her mind, despite her desperate thoughts and inner screams, she never expected another opportunity was going to come her way. And just as that fact was about to come into full realization, that was when she saw it: the fire-thrower.

When Kain was dragging her into the open, he had walked right pass the fire thrower. He had no idea what it was capable of.

_Wish granted._

And immediately, Holly threw her arms upon it.

Without properly attaching it to herself, she instead she took aim with the hose and pulled back on the weapon's lever. A jet a flames burst from the nozzle and burst onto Kain's back. Holly watched as the fuel coating his back, attached to his clothes and then burst into flames. He screamed. His hands immediately released her foot and gripped the back of his head. The hood he wore was already burning off and making it's way onto his flesh.

She rushed away from him, gaining distance and was ready to blast him once more. This time, unfortunately, she felt a minor backlash. The hose would tremble when the fire tried to make it's way back into the hose and to the fuel source. So she had to shut it down. Unfortunately, it resulted in a large flame blasting up her hand and arm.

In her pain, Holly screamed several unpleasant comments and dropped the fire-thrower. Her hand patted and smothered the flames on her arm to the best of her ability, but the pain was only increasing as the flames died out. She held her arms against her and proceeded to back towards one of the nearest doors. And to her great dismay, the door refused to open for her.

She was trapped.

"Quickly!"

With all of the commotion, she had completely forgotten about the third creature in the room. She whipped her head in the direction of the Beast. It was the first time he had tried to speak during the battle, and judging by the way the machines seemed to be operating quickly and rapidly, the excitement in this room had damaged him further. Holly glanced over at him, then back at Kain. The flames seemed to be dying away on him… but that was impossible. If it were any other vampire, the flames would have killed him. Vampires feared attacks that impaled or enflamed, and although the fire clearly hurt him, he was somehow repelling the element.

"Human!" The beast bellowed again. "He will be healed in a matter of seconds. Get behind the Ward Gate!"

Holly's eyes went large then. To get behind the Ward Gate, meant to be at the mercy of the beast. Then her eyes turned to Kain, now without his shirt and hood. His back covered in large burns and blisters. Anything he had planned on doing to her before was going to be a thousand times worse now.

Her eyes turned back to the beast… then back to Kain.

_Do you honestly have to choose?_

"Shut up…" she hissed under her breath, then grabbed onto the fire-thrower. She would be damned if Kain was going to return the favor by using her own weapon against her.

Without further hesitation, she sprinted towards the Ward Gate. As she passed through, she came to an immediate halt infront of the beast. He was back on his feet once more, the machines going wild with every quick movement he made. Holly took a deep breath, placing her weapon to the side and shook her head at him.

"I'm in here now," she snapped, trying to look him in the eyes. "Now stop moving! It looks even worse being this close!"

The beast growled and coughed, but made no effort to move towards her. Slowly he lowered his body onto the ground, the machines slowing down as he did so. Holly took several deep breaths before lowering onto her knees as well. She was never one for fighting. At least, not like this. Her back and arms were bleeding, her body was sore, her arm was burned. She was beginning to feel her age all over again. This was no job for her. She looked over her shoulder in time to see Kain moving towards the Ward Gate, hissing as he approached it, and glaring hard at the woman before him.

"You are more trouble than you are worth, witch." He spat. "If you have any delusions of leaving this place alive, it is best that you get them out of your head."

To that, Holly simply took the fire-thrower back into her arms. "Do not mistake my slight insanity with being delusional, you devil. Come near me again and I will burn that bloody face from your skull!"

"You _dare-!"_

"Enough of this!" The beast bellowed, lifting his head and looking between the two of them. "There is much to be done… and we cannot afford to waste more time…"

Kain shifted his eyes from Holly to the monster beside her. The glare never left his face, but as his eyes met the Beast's, a strange feeling of recognition overcame him. As if somehow, these two had known each other in times passed. Or perhaps somehow, this creature's fate was someone _connected_ with his.

"You know me, monster?" he asked. "My memory at present has it's flaws, but I should certainly remember a being such as you."

Holly bit her lip, fighting back the urge to say something unnecessarily spiteful.

"We have not met," the beast coughed. "I know of you, of course… that you can return from the dead gives hope to us all…"

"Speak for _yourself_." The words somehow forced themselves out of Holly's mouth before she could stop them. In response, the beast turned it's head in her direction. No words were spoken, but his eyes carried a hint of annoyance. Holly was half tempted to snap at him for looking at her like that, but refrained from doing so. He was in pain, and he hadn't mauled her when she passed the Ward Gate. That was kind enough, and she knew she should be grateful.

"Have no fear of me..." he said. His eyes were fixed on Holly for a moment, but the words were undoubtably directed at Kain. "I am enslaved by the fiends that built this monstrosity... to feed this machine with my life..."

"Then perhaps we have an interest in common." was Kain's response to the creature before him. "I am here to destroy the Device."

Immediately, the Seer's voice rang in Holly's mind. The Device! To the best of her knowledge, Holly only assumed that it was associated with that terrible place that the Seer had mentioned. Apparently her new ally was supposed to tell her more about it... but how did Kain know of the Device?

"Yes... yes, I can help you then..." the Beast coughed, carefully sitting up to speak to the vampire. As such, the machines begin to react, much to Holly's concern. But she did not protest. Clearly whatever the monster had to say was worth the agony. "That which you seek is too great for you to destroy alone. It descends far underground, it rivals a city in its size. To destroy the device, you must seek out the being that built it."

"The Sarafan Lord?" Kain inquired.

"No, no... it's older, far older." The Beast replied. "Those who dwelt in Nosgoth eons ago left some structures in their passing. The device is one. The Sarafan Lord discovered how to use it. Only the Builder can make it stop... There is a place in Nosgoth, far to the north, where time means nothing, where hours and years are frozen for eternity. The Eternal Prison. The wretches imprisoned there pay for their crimes for eternity. The Builder is there."

"The Eternal Prison?" Holly's voice attracted the attention of the two monsters. "...That place... it is really so close to Meridian?"

"You know of this place, woman?" Kain said, causing Holly to roll her eyes.

"If you are to address me, I am Lady Angela. 'Ma'am' will do as well." she spat back at him, then spoke again. "I know very little of this place, only that it is an eternal punishment for those who commit ungodly acts of treason against the Sarafan Lord." after a moment, she smirked at him. "...I'm told that he's even sent a few vampires there."

Kain snarled back at her. "Push me further, _Lady Angela_..." he hissed, "And you will find that this prison is a mercy compared to my wrath."

This time, Holly rose to her feet. "I am a _Sarafan_. I make it my duty to '_push you further_.'"

"Enough of this..." the Beast protested, then continued. "There is a tunnel leading out of the city through this room. It will take you into the Prison."

Kain ripped his eyes away from the spiteful creature before him and returned his gaze to the beast. "And if this builder refuses my help?"

"Tell him you wish to destroy the device. Believe me, he will aid you..." was the reply.

"I hope, for your sake, that what you have told me is true..." Kain hissed. He took one final look at the Beast, and at the human woman. Then he turned away, approaching a door that led further into this strange establishment.

And leaving Holly alone with the beast.


	22. Chapter 22

Lacrimosa

_Author's Note: I cannot believe I have made it pass 50 reviews. Thanks to everybody who has enjoyed this story and stayed with it for so long. This is one of the happiest moments I've had on this site and I owe it to you. Also, huge thanks to Clement Rage and Grizz for helping me understand Nosgoth's history. This chapter couldn't have been completed without you two._

* * *

Blood had completely soaked and stained her clothes. Her face had small bruises and discoloration, and her nose and bottom lip were bleeding. By some miracle her nose hadn't broken _again_. The most damage had been done to her back and her arms. She did what she could to use loose pieces of clothing as bandages for her bleeding and burned arms, but the gashes along her back wasn't recieving the make-shift medical attention that she needed.

"...I can't believe this..." she thought to herself. A moment later, she released an aggreviated groan when she realized the Nexus Stone was on her at all times.

_You idiot. You had yourself so wound up in all that chaos and you forgot that you could have just wished your way out of the room at any bloody time! Some genius you are._

"Damn it! All of these wounds could've been avoided then!" she snapped, grinding her fist into the floor in her frustration.

It had been nearly a half hour since Kain had departed. In that time, she had stepped out from behind the Ward Gate when she was confident that he would not return. There was no need for her to be so close to the Beast now that the real danger had left the room. She leaned against the wall farthest from his small prison, doing her best to repair her weapons. The damage her cannon had inflicted was minimal, but as expected, the fire-thrower needed the most repairs. She was going to have to find a way to keep the flames from running back into the fuel tank. Next time she might not be so lucky. The burns on her arms were greater this time: mostly second degree, but some discoloration and skin patterns hinted that some areas may have endured third degree burns. Strangely enough, they didn't hurt nearly as bad as they did in the testing phases.

_Being tortured to an inch of your life would probably make one more tolerant to pain._

"Indeed..." she sighed, then put her weapons down. She was too tired and too sore to put her mind at work. She needed rest. She wasn't going to make it through this if her body didn't take the time to recover.

Her body screamed for sleep. Every inch of her wanted to do nothing more than rest, but her mind always returned to creature she shared this small prison with. Her eyes had always made it back to the Beast, and she noticed that he had either fallen asleep on the floor or was too exhausted to make any sort of conversation with her. Out of some curtosy, she did not disturb him. Being attached to those machines looked far more dreadful than anything she could have endured. The creature deserved some rest.

Nevertheless, Holly could not shake the feeling that he was watching her at all times.

Was it true? Or was it her paranoia sinking in? He was too far away for her to see if his eyes were watching her, but his body was so still that she could have sworn he was sleeping.

_...Regardless..._ she thought to herself, _The Seer told me that he would tell me more. That is, if this is the creature she spoke of... perhaps now is the ideal time..._

After a few moments of hesitating, she pushed herself off of the wall and groaned as the sharp agony ripped through her back and shoulders. The torment increased as she picked up her weapons and rose to her feet. Her limbs were heavy, and the logical part of her mind was demanding that she sit back down and sleep. For now, she ignored that otherwise intelligent part of her mind. She _had_ to make it to the Beast. There were questions she had that needed to be answered. They were both tired, and both suffering, and she knew that neither of them enjoyed being in each other's presence, but this needed to be done.

_I need to know what I am up against..._

"...Creature..." Holly's voice, though fatigued, was low and soft. It wouldn't do if she startled him.

The Beast slightly lifted his head, slowly turning it in her direction. He said nothing, but merely watched her every movement. A Sarafan woman was approaching him with weapons, after all. This could mean trouble. He relaxed when she slowly and painfully lowered herself onto the floor before him, still on the outside of the Ward Gate. It would seem that she was every bit as cautious about him as he was about her.

"...I don't mean to disturb you." she whispered to him.

Her reply was a very dry laugh. "You have done plenty to disturb me..." he coughed. "...I never imagined such... _conflict_ to occur in this room."

Holly sighed and shook her head. She didn't necessarily feel the need to apologize for defending herself, but the fight couldn't have been pleasant for him.

"...What do you want to know, human?" the Beast asked, still moving as little as possible.

Holly took a deep breath and tried to relax to the best of her abilities. If her mind wasn't at ease, she wasn't going to retain any information he had in store for her. Though it surprised her that he was so willing to speak to her, knowing what she was and what her stand on creatures like himself were. Perhaps dropping The Seer's name triggered something. She would have to inquire about this.

"...I told you before," she began, "I spoke to a Seer before I came here. She knew I would meet you. She said that you would... elaborate, I suppose, on everything she has told me."

And so, Holly began to retell her tale. She told him of the Nexus Stone, of that "dimension of evil" that the Seer spoke of, of the enemy greater than the vampires, and even of the 'Device' that the Beast had mentioned. As she spoke, the Beast gazed intensely at her, reading her every movement, paying close attention to the tone of her voice, trying desperately to detect any sign of treachery from this being. There was a sense that she was withholding personal information, and pain lingered in her voice and body language, but overall he did not feel that she had lied to him.

"The Seer..." he spoke, "...You must know, that she would not have told this information to simply... _anybody_."

"Do you know her?" Holly's surprise was made quite evident on her face. In any other situation, he may have laughed.

"Not... personally..." he coughed. "...But I feel that your significance in this unfolding drama exceeds well beyond your one act of thievery. She would not have let you leave the grounds alive if she knew that you were not a key part of this mission at hand..."

Holly's face had dropped into her palm at this comment. She did not like the sound of this. For some reason, his tone was strongly implying the possibility of martyrdom. _And bloody hell, I've survived up to this point against impossible odds, I do not want to die now._

Her troubles seemed to radiate off of her. The Beast could feel it despite the distance between them. And he spoke once again. "...From what you have told me, I can only assume that the Seer you speak of is one of the Hylden..."

"The Hylden?" Holly lifted her head, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and staring back at the monster before her. "What is that?"

The Beast hesitated. For a moment, he seemed conflicted, and Holly wasn't entirely sure why. There was a mutual distrust between the two, based solely on the grounds that she was a human and he was some kind of monster. The fact that she was a Sarafan did not help matters either. Holly sighed, then moved closer towards the Ward Gate.

_...This is a bad idea..._ her mind warned her. She groaned and moved closer to the Ward Gate. _Well bloody hell, I must find a way to break this uncomfortable silence... maybe gain a little trust in the process..._

She took a deep breath, and very slowly her small hand passed through the barrier. She noticed the Beast watching her, and the intensity in his eyes sent shivers up her spine. Part of her was wondering if he was going to lunge at her and tear her arm off, and this paranoia was causing her hand to tremble and shake out of nerves. Nevertheless, she summoned up her strength, fighting through her own personal fear, and rested her hand on the claw of the Beast.

"...Please..." she whispered before looking back into his eyes. "...I have children, and a family to defend..."

Her heart pounded in her chest. She felt as thought she had made a vital mistake in telling him that she had a family. But the damage was done and the gamble was made. She would have to go through with it now.

"...I must know what I am up against. I need to understand what is going on... so that I may return to them."

It was madness. Had anybody seen her like this, it would have met the death of her. Negotiating with a monster was punishable by torture and death. All at once she felt as though her loyalty to the Sarafan Brotherhood and her deceased husband had been destroyed. The realization almost brought her to tears, but her pride kept her from showing further weakness infront of this creature. Was this a mistake? Was she a traitor? Would anything this monster had to say be worth it? Was everything he said before this moment simply empty words? Was he just toying with her?

"...Do you know the story of the oldest vampire?" his words stunned her. She lifted her head and her eyes met the Beast's. His tone was serious, but his eyes were surprisingly gentle.

"The oldest vampire... Janos Audron. Yes. I know the story. What of him?" her voice was jittery and she fought to keep it steady.

"I trust that your human mentors have told you a dramatically _different_ version of the tale of Janos Audron," the Beast whispered. "The vampires you know of now are a far cry from the ancient vampires of Nosgoth's past. Long ago... long before even Janos Audron first walked the earth, vampires were godlike, and their kind ruled this land."

"Godlike?" Holly repeated, her eyes narrowing. "How could these creatures be anything _remotely_ godlike?"

The Beast merely glared at her. Holly groaned and shook her head. Her personal grudges were going to ruin her chances of knowing what she was up against.

"...This must have been a very, _very_ long time ago..." she said, then sighed. "I assume vampires didn't drink blood back in those days, either."

"You would be correct."

His words struck her like kick to the chest. At first, she assumed he was merely returning her sarcasm. But his eyes told her differently: his words were honest. For a second, Holly felt as though she had reverted from a self-proclaimed genius into a curious pupil. At that moment, she decided it would be best if she simply said nothing and allowed the creature to continue. He recognized her curiosity and her interest in the subject at hand, and the Beast continued.

"I understand your confusion. The tales of the Ancient Vampires have all but vanished. Ruins and temples depicting that ancient race have been hidden from human eyes. They did not prey upon humans, and they did not drink blood. It was a time of peace and prayer, in a land flowing with life. But they were opposed by another race, similiar to the Ancients in power, but different in method and intention."

_The Hylden?_ Holly silently inquired, refraining from interrupting him further. It looked as though this story was causing him further exhaustion and pain, and she was lucky that he was even telling her it at all. She did not feel the need to waste time with her questions.

"This race did not worship the God of Nosgoth... the Elder God, the hub of the wheel of life, death, and rebirth. Because of their lack of faith, the Elder God commanded the Ancients to destroy the invading species. The wars between them flamed for a thousand years. During this long and bloody struggle, these creatures created a weapon we call The Device in an attempt to destroy the Ancients. Before it could be completed, Ancients had captured and interrogated the builder of this weapon. Under torture, the builder confessed that The Device housed an ancient creature, one whose mind is capable of killing any living thing with but a thought. He spoke of a plan to attune the creature's mind into killing all living creatures except the ones of his race. He was then imprisoned in the Eternal Prison... and the rest of his race, The Hylden, were banished to another, far more terrible realm."

_So it was the Hylden._ Holly nodded as he finished speaking. _And the Device... was it truly that dangerous? But why did it not destroy everything after the Builder was captured? Surely without a master to control the monster, it would have killed everything without distinction._

"That is the second time you have given me that look," the Beast's voice broke her thoughts. "You have questions?"

"Questions can wait." Holly replied. "I am taking all of this in as you speak. Please, if you have the strength for it, continue."

The Beast hummed low in his throat. She could see how tired he was, but despite his pain, he continued with his story. "...After the thousand-year war, the Ancients prevailed at last, and banished their enemies from the face of the earth by powerful magic, sealing them into another plane of existance. I am certain you know of the magic I speak of. They have long since crumbled, but all nine of them once stood tall, pristine, and uncorrupted long ago..."

"The Pillars!" Holly gasped, gaping at him. _The Pillars of Nosgoth... they were created by vampires? _

"Yes, the Pillars..." the Beast nodded. "They are the lock that traps the Hylden in that horrible realm... but the end of the war came at a price. The Hylden were removed from Nosgoth, but with their departure, they left behind a most terrible curse. Ancients were now immortal, and could not return to their beloved God. And so, the Elder God abandoned them... many of the Ancients took their own lives out of their despair. Also, with their immortality came the horrible, unquenchable thirst for blood. Those who resisted this thirst grew weak, while those who gave in to the thirst became monstrous. But that is not all... you are aware that the Pillars choose their guardians at birth, yes?"

Holly nodded. With that, the Beast continued: "...The Ancients were cursed with sterility. Females miscarried, or gave birth to stillborns. Males could no longer impregnant their partners. Pillar Guardians maintain the lock that keeps the Hylden imprisoned, and the Pillar Guardians are chosen at birth. Because the Ancients are no longer born, The Pillars chose human guardians. But humans are not as strong as the Ancients, and therefore the Hylden could manipulate them easier, even from within their horrible dimension. Thus, the Ancients adopted, and sometimes abducted the human guardians, and transformed them into vampires once they came of age..."

The Beast was quiet. It was as though he could sense Holly's immediate tension at the word "abducted." After a moment, he spoke to her once more. "...It is not something they were particularly proud of, I assure you. It was out of necessity... I acknowlegde that choosing the lesser of two evils does not make that evil right. But the Hylden... even in their realm, have methods of controlling those who are weaker. Even now, they control the Sarafan. They are striving to wipe out the vampires, enslave the humans, and reclaim these lands as their own. One of the Hylden was able to return to this world. He used his magic to draw other Hylden through, but had not yet the power to begin a full invasion. Her required an army here, and humans to drain of energy. He learned of a legendary order whose purpose was to purge the world of vampires long ago. He revived this order, and the Sarafan were born again. They have returned ot enact a terrible revenge..."

"Wait..."

Holly rose to her feet. Her eyes were hard, and her expression seemed caught between anger and horror. "These monsters, the Hylden... they control... they are controlling... the Sarafan?"

Immediately there seemed to be a sharp pang in her chest. Her memory flashed to her first meeting with The Sarafan Lord. Once again, she relieved the surprise and the fright she had felt when she discovered that such a creature was controlling the Sarafan Brotherhood. A being that was clearly not human, a being that had lived for nearly two hundred years, when Kain was defeated. She always knew he hadn't been a vampire, and perhaps some sort of denial made her consider that he may have been a terribly deformed human. But this story... this forgotten history about an ancient war, and a species worse than even the vampires... even the strange similiarities between the Sarafan Lord and The Seer.

"Human...?" the Beast spoke, his voice soft, but firm. "Human, compose yourself..."

Holly shook her head. Her face paled and and a hand slid over her lips.

She had been _living_ with a creature hellbent on enslaving, if not completely annihilating, the humans.

Her husband, a man who dedicated his life to _protecting_ mankind from the vampiric plague, had been serving a creature that would have led to the downfall of the human race.

"...I'm going to be sick..." Holly forced the words out of her mouth before she twisted away from the beast. Pain ripped through her body as she rushed in an isolated cornor and fell to her knees. Her body convulsed before she coughed up a combination of vomit and stomach acids. Sweat beaded on her face and chest and at any moment she thought tears might form.

_The Hylden... those demons, they were controlling the Sarafan all along? For the past two hundred years? Perhaps longer?_ Holly took many slow, deep breathes, keeping herself from hyperventilating_. No... I won't believe that. I can't believe that. There is no way that Vladmir and his men would have lost their lives fighting for the enslavement of humans..._

Her arms shot up and her hands found their way into her hair. Her fingers gripped the roots of her blond curls as she stared bug-eyed into the puddle of vomit. _It's a trick... it's all a manipulation. The Seer... she was one of those bloody demons... she led me to this monster, she knew he would poison my mind, try to corrupt it. I knew I shouldn't have trusted her words. _

The grip on her hair tightened. Her fingers pulled on her locks so roughly she thought she would have ripped them out. _It's a lie... it is all a lie... Vladmir did not die for that purpose... he did not die in vain..._

Once more, the logical side of her mind fought back. The Sarafan Lord's treachery against her replayed in her mind over and over again. His decision to allow vampires into the Sarafan Keep, to allow them to get away with virtually anything simply because they belonged to him... the fact that he ordered Sebastian to murder her...

His face... the face of a demon... and those horrible glowing eyes...

"You already knew that the Sarafan Lord is not human... didn't you?" the Beast's voice brought her out of her thoughts. But that temporary madness did not leave her.

Holly was on her feet with impressive speed for an injured woman. When she turned to face the Beast, he saw nothing but sheer anger in her eyes and rose to his feet as she approached her weapons. She bent down, enduring the pain in her back and arms, and snatched up her cannon.

"How do you know all of this?" she demanded, taking aim at the monster. "How do I know this isn't just some kind of sick game? How could you possibly know such a history? Were you there? What the bloody hell _are you_, anyways?" with every question, her voice grew louder. "How do I know you're not one of those disgusting demons? _Start talking!_"

In response, the Beast growled at her, anger and pain visible in his eyes. "You _ingrate_." he spat. "I have told you everything you wanted to know. I had no reason for telling you such things other than to sate your curiosity, perhaps even protect _your family_, and this is the thanks you give me?"

Holly glared harder at him and growled in frustration. The Seer had told her this creature would tell her everything she needed to know, but how could she trust the words of a creature who may have very well been in on the enslavement of the human race? And this creature, who knew so much about this terrible history and the horrors of the present. His words were enough to bring her into hysterics. Was this all some twisted game of the Seer's? To lead Holly to this monster so he may break her mind further?

What if everything he said was true? What if the Sarafan Lord was that demon from another realm? What if he really was manipulating the Sarafan all along?

_God damn it! _her mind screamed. _I don't know who I can trust anymore!_

In her frustration Holly fell back down to her knees and roared in her frustration. Simultaneously, the Beast collapsed to the ground as well. Holly's tantrum had only caused further damage to her body, and the Beast's reaction had caused further suffering. Holly could hear the machines slowing to a stop, but her own psychological torture was weighing on her.

_I am officially... way over my head. I shouldn't have taken this chance... _she sniffled, wiped her nose, then stared back at the floor.

_...But suppose he is telling the truth... would you really be better off doing nothing? Just pretending everything was fine?_

"...I know so much... because I _was_ there." she heard the Beast's voice, but did not look at him. "...To you I am another monster to fear. And it is no different now than it was then."

Holly sighed and then slumped onto the floor, her back to the Beast. She was too exhausted, physically and mentally, to care about her less-than-dignified decision to lay on the ground.

"My husband was killed in battle by vampires." she said aloud, but was uncertain if the Beast honestly cared at this moment. "...He died in battle, performing a duty he thought would save the lives of human families. If what you told me is true, about the Sarafan Lord and his race... then my husband fought and died to help enslave the people he swore to protect."

There was silence. Nobody moved, nobody spoke. The tension in the air was exceedingly uncomfortable. Then...

"I have not lied to you. My words are true. There is a way to honor your husband's memory... but you must trust in me."


	23. Chapter 23

**Lacrimosa**

"…Tell me, human… you are not experienced enough to have been a warrior. What is your duty?"

"I _was_ the head of the Department of Weapons Development, and the Department of Science. Those were my titles. I find work as an inventor and a mechanic."

"That is an unusual occupation for a woman."

"You _must_ be ancient. Times have changed, and so have the gender roles."

They were both laying on the floor, Holly's back to the monster, but the monster's eyes on her at all times. Neither of them were moving: all the excitement and commotion had rendered them both to the point of breaking. The Beast was truly surprised to see that a frail human was still alive after such an ordeal. He could smell not only her blood, but the burned flesh on her arms. With the back of her shirt in shreds and her long hair pulled away from the wounds, The Beast could not only see the open clawmarks but several crisscrossing scars and welts. Whatever this woman had lived through, it was not pleasant. She spoke too highly of her husband for him to assume an abusive spouse was responsible for such things. Was it another human? Or perhaps it was a vampire. It was commonplace for vampires to take their time destroying a human woman, especially one with the Sarafan. But how did she survive? And despite the scarring, how was she still in one piece?

"...Have you ever killed before?" The Beast asked.

Holly was very still. The question was not quite what she was expecting. He _had_ witnessed her battle with a vampire. He knew that she didn't think twice about catching him on fire. What could have possibly brought on this question?

"...I killed a man with a hammer." she confessed. "And I killed a vampire with a very large amount of steam. I thought I had killed Kain in that one as well, but clearly that isn't the case."

"It would take more than steam to kill him." The Beast replied. "So... that explain his aggression towards you."

"I seem to have that effect on every vampire I meet." was her response. "...Especially the ones working for the Sarafan. I think they've always had it out for me, since I created the Ward Gates..."

"You created the Ward Gates?"

There was an urgency in his tone and for a moment, Holly felt as though she might have told him too much. It was her very invention that kept him trapped here, and as such she expected a more violent response from him. Slowly but painfully, she rolled onto her back and then forced herself to lay on her side, now facing the monster. The Beast was still, but very firm in his posture and expression. Still, she didn't necessarily feel the vibe that he was angry with her.

"...I did, yes." she replied. "It was my meal ticket. I heard from several of my husband's close friends that the Sarafan Lord was in need of a new system that could channel a new sort of energy. I pitched my idea, and it got me out of the slums. And for awhile it felt like I had made Nosgoth a safer place."

When she had finished speaking, there was nothing. Not a word from her companion and not even a silent reaction. Everything she said had rendered the Beast completely silent. Again, she was expecting him to react with anger. Use some kind of "If this Ward Gate ceased to be, I would tear you to pieces," threat towards her, or something along those lines. But instead, it seemed as though he was in a very deep thought. Or, perhaps, he was choosing his words carefully. After a long moment of silence, Holly knew that _something_ was on his mind and there was definitely something he wanted to say. But what was it?

_Whatever it is, my dear, you are not going to like it much. I can tell by the way he is hesitating._

"What is it?" Holly asked, breaking the silence between them.

It took him another moment to reply, and she soon discovered the meaning behind his hesitance.

"The Ward Gates, like this one here," the Beast moved his claw towards the energy to make it flare up around him, "and the Glyph energy in it's entirity... it is the Sarafan Lord's method of channeling the power of the Device into Meridian, and into all of Nosgoth." he paused again before continuing. "...It is how he will annhiliate everything: the vampires _and_ the humans."

When he had first told her about how Vladmir had been used, Holly felt that horrible stab of betrayal. And now she felt it again. As the Beast's words replayed in her mind, the reality of it all came crashing down upon her. She had made an oath to protect Nosgoth and her people. But it was her invention that would help destroy them all. She would be the architect of Nosgoth's doom.

"Oh God..." her hand moved to her forehead and she felt all the color leave her face. Holly was never one to faint, but the shock damn near knocked the wind out of her. She felt lightheaded, and it didn't take long for those tears to return.

The Beast kept his eyes on her, digging his claws into the stone floor. If she had another violent reaction like she did before, it could mean trouble for him. Despite that, he couldn't help but feel some level of pity for the human before him. His words had truly hurt her, and he recognized in her the unimaginable suffering that failure had brought to him. This was a person who loved her land and her people, and would give her all to save them.

Perhaps it was never too late to find an ally, even in the most unlikely of people.

"You know that system." he whispered to her. "You know it better than any living creature in Meridian. There is still a chance for you to redeem yourself..."

_I am sick and tired of this animal finding ways to stab me in the chest and then pretend to care afterwards._

Without further preamble, Holly's hand moved to the Nexus Stone. Light surrounded her entire entity, and then she was gone.

The Beast lowered his head and sighed with defeat. Wherever that woman was, he was almost certain he would never see her again. And with the Nexus Stone in her posession, she would bring Nosgoth's peril sooner.

* * *

"Every time you come to us, you are always bleeding."

"You would not believe what I have been through."

"Not to be rude, dear... but I speak for the both of us when I say we really don't want to know."

"Perfectly understandable."

She hissed in pain, gripping the sheets tightly as the needle weaved it's way through her skin, back and forth and back again. After her unpleasant conversation with the Beast, Holly had attempted to sleep off her pain and keep her mind off of her injuries. This did not go over well, as every small movement and motion of her body sent jolts of pain rushing through her. After much contemplation, she had decided to use the Nexus Stone and go to the only other people she could trust outside of her family: Anne and Jane, the ladies from the Industrial Quarter.

The power of the Nexus Stone simply amazed her. Holly wasn't entire sure if the magic would bring her directly to the women. Up until this point, she had always assumed it would have only taken her to specific locations, but she merely thought of the names of the two women and envisioned their faces, and within moments she was before them. After the explosion in the Industrial Quarter, the surviving workers had stopped at least 60% of the manufacturing and shipping and focused more on the reconstruction of the destroyed factory. Jane and Anne had been in the middle of rebuilding an engine when Holly appeared before them in her bloody, burned, and exhausted condition.

Within moments she was pushed and shoved into the one-room loft and forced to lay face down on Anne's bed. Jane removed the bloody shirt and fetched the needle and thread upon seeing the gashes on Holly's back. Anne had taken the liberty of tending to the burns on Holly's arms.

"You are always such a bloody mess. I don't know what sort of trouble you're getting yourself into girl, but at your age, you best stop if you ever want to live past fifty." Jane sighed as she finished stitching the first long cut across Holly's back. "Four more to go… bloody hell, were you mauled by a hellcat?"

Anne slowly shook her head. "These burns are nasty. Far worse than the ones you had before, let me tell you." She applied a cream to Holly's burns, careful not to irritate them further, before wrapping up the woman's limbs.

Holly sighed, leaning her head into the uncomfortable mattress and gripping the sheets tighter with discomfort. She was in no mood to speak, and these ladies made it quite clear that they did not want to know what happened. She couldn't blame them. Of all people, Holly knew very well about playing it safe: how the less you knew meant the better off you and your family were. If the wrong people knew about these two housing a fugitive, the consequences would be severe. The death of the Tapster was proof of this.

But no… Holly's mind was elsewhere. As she lay motionlessly on the bed, her mind replayed that conversation with the Beast over and over again. A way to redeem herself, he said. Was that even possible at this point? Holly's eyes moved to Anne, and then to Jane. Her invention, one she hoped would keep them safe, would only destroy them in the end. The faces of her daughters and grandchildren flashed through her mind. How long would it take until they were gone too? Her mind drifted back to the conversation with the Seer. She was Hylden. Her people would be the ones to destroy Nosgoth. Could her words even be trusted at this point? Could Holly honestly trust anybody? With every action she took and decision she made, there was always a terrible consequence or a very unpleasant realization. Her mind and body just couldn't take the stress any longer.

_There is still a chance for you to redeem yourself..._

"And what did he mean by that?" she muttered to herself.

"What did he mean by what?" Anne asked as she finished rubbing the cream into the burns. "What are you talking about?"

Holly attempted to shake her head but it hurt too much. "Nothing. Thinking aloud..."

Did he expect her to destroy the Ward Gates? Again, this sounded like trouble. Of course, a creature trapped behind a Ward Gate would want the energy to be shut off. Was this all a huge lie? Was this another ploy to play at her emotions to get what he wanted?

_There are moments where I would trade my knowledge of science for the ability to read minds._

She sighed and buried her face into the pillow. If she was ever going to learn of the truth, it meant that she would have to go back to the Beast. The thought was unpleasant and she still carried that lingering suspicion that he could be lying to her all along.

_You are distraught and exhausted. If you go back now, you won't be thinking clearly, and you will make mistakes. If you have to go back, you need to recover first._

After much contemplation, Holly closed her eyes.

_...That's right. I will know what to do once I recover._


	24. Chapter 24

**Lacrimosa**

It took her two days to recover. While she wasn't ungrateful for the speedy recover, it didn't change the fact that it was completely unnatural.

_This has to do with the Seer, doesn't it? _

She was alone in the room. When Jane and Anne were finished tending to her wounds, they had to return to their work and left Holly to rest. All of her wounds had been healed, leaving behind only scars. It bothered Holly to see just how many she had collected over the past few months, and she was grateful that Jane and Anne had provided her with new clothes. A shirt with a high collar and long sleeves, long pants, and a long jacket to keep her warm. It was modest clothing that covered every inch of her body, save for her head. She could kiss them for their kindness towards her.

_But still, I look younger, I'm stronger than I once was, I can make a full recovery in two days... what is the purpose of all of this? What does the Seer have planned for me? And what does she want in return? Hopefully it's just another kiss..._

The memory caused Holly to frown, then wipe her lips with the back of her hand.

She glanced down on a chair beside her bed. The Nexus Stone was laying there as well as her toolkit from before. Beside the bed were her weapons. Jane and Anne hadn't taken them away and didn't steal them from her, and for that she was eternally grateful. She adjusted it onto her shirt and folded the jacket over it to keep it hidden.

It was time to return to the Beast. She wasn't sure what had happened over the course of those two days, but her mind was clear. Whatever she had to face, it was better to face it head on. Her hand moved over the stone, and she took a deep breath.

"Thank you so much for all your help, my friends... I hope I will see you again." she whispered, then rose her voice. "The Beast." That glow covered her body, and she vanished.

When she reappeared in the familiar chamber, she was expecting to see a weak and broken creature laying on the floor. What she hadn't expected was this creature to be screaming and roaring with pain. The machine connecting into him were pumping furiously and his body shook and spasmed with every passing second. An unknown fluid burst from his body and clumps of skin fell from him. Holly was positively horrified and without a second thought, when sprinting over towards the Ward Gate.

"What is happening!" she screamed over the noise. He didn't seem to hear her and so she screamed louder. "Stop it! You'll kill yourself!"

The Beast's torso then twisted and with that sudden jerk of his body, Holly could hear his bones snap. He didn't collapse, even when more flesh slid off of his skin and fell onto the floor. Still, the machines were drilling into his body and smoke rose from his muscles. Holly looked from the suffering monster, then to the machine. If The Beast died now, she would be at a great disadvantage. But despite it all, she absolutely hated to watch this, and it only got worse as time pressed on. His back legs dug so hard into the ground until they both broke and his front claws soon met the same fate. But the Beast's screams shook her to her very core. So much pain and helplessness, much like the terror she felt in that room with Sebastian.

She had to stop it.

Holly sprinted away from the Beast and rushed to the machines. There had to be a glyph nearby that was powering it, but unfortunately, the structure of this cage was very different from the technology of Meridian. The machines and the pipes were all crafted from a very different type of metal, and the glyph energy seemed to be coursing through them from a source outside of the room.

"Well then," Holly muttered to herself, then took aim with her cannon. "If I can't take out the source, I can still cut the power flow."

She lit the wick, and then pulled the trigger. At this close range, the cannon burst it's way into the pipes. Holly jumped away as the glyph energy began to course it's way out from the gaping hole, and as such, the machines began to slow. She reloaded her cannon and took aim at another prominent pipe. When she fired again, she was met wtih the same results. The machines slowed more, and as such, the energy from the Ward Gate began to fade away.

But the Beast was still suffering. The machines were still connected into him. She rushed towards him, careful to avoid his thrashing body, but his torment was even worse when she was so close to him. She heard his joints popping out of place, his bones shifting and breaking with every wild thrash of his body. Once or twice she had to retreat to keep from getting knocked over by his massive form. This was going to be difficult, and carrying two heavy weapons wouldn't make the job easy. She lowered the cannon and the fire-thrower, and when the moment was right, she ran and jumped onto the Beast's back.

The wires and pipes were being forced into his spine. Holly was no doctor, but she knew that tampering with his nervous system could be met with terrible consequences. But even still, keeping these machines plugged into him would cause more torment than paralysis or death could accomplish. Without another thought, she grabbed onto a wire. She tugged once, then twice, but it still drilled itself deeper into his back. She then grabbed onto it with both hands, then dug her feet into the Beast's back. Pushing with her legs and pulling with her arms, she used every ounce of strength she had and felt the wire moving out. With a final pull, the wire forced itself out of the Beast's back. Pus shot from his back and blood poured from the pipe in her hands. The surprise caught Holly completely off guard and she fell backwards, landing hard on the ground.

"Damn it!" she cursed, watching as the Beast released another pained cry. When she recovered, she looked at the pipe in her hands: it was filled with blood. Her eyes went back to the Beast. She dropped the pipe and went sprinting towards the gaping wound in his back.

No blood. A wound that large, but no blood.

_By God, is that what they're doing to him? They're draining him of his blood?_

With a glare, Holly retreated back to her weapon. She lifted the cannon into her arms and took aim at the tubes and pipes that remained. And she took fire. The cannon blasted through the pipes and wires, the tubes exploded, and the Beast was soon covered entirely with his own blood. The monster released a final scream of agony because he fell to the floor, trembling and shaking. Holly dropped the cannon and then rushed to his side, pulling what was left of the pipes and wires out of his back. Then she moved to the Beast's head. His eyes were large, his mouth was gaping open, and she felt her heart sink. If he didn't look completely and utterly destroyed, nothing did.

"Creature," Holly whispered, putting a hand on his bony face. "Creature! Get ahold of yourself! You can't die now that you are free!"

His body twitched and spasmed every now and then, but his eyes remained unfocused. In a panic, Holly responded by slapping him, only to do more damage to her own hand.

_Hitting his bony face wasn't your best idea._

"Shut up," she muttered to herself, then took the Beast's head into her hands. "Creature, please..."

This time, his mouth twitched. His eyes hadn't changed, but she could feel the monster's hot breath on her arms. "...F..r..e..e..."

His words were met by a very unusual sound, as if someone was slurping a bowl of soup. Her eyes moved to the ground, and she jumped away from the monster when she saw that all of the blood in the room was somehow rushing towards him. Her eyes went large as the blood coursed and pumped into his open wounds, and her jaw dropped when she watched the wounds close. Then there was a sound. The Beast's body jerked upward once, then twice, and then the flesh on his back tore open. Holly jerked her head away at the sound, but when her eyes returned to the scene, she saw two large, black object burst from the monster's back. They were wet and dripping with some kind of fluid, but when they flexed and moved, she realized what they were.

_Wings... _

She stared at the wings for the longest of times before she heard more bones snapping, and the skin of the monster stretching and shifting. The muscles from the monster's bulkish torso seemed to move into the hind legs, and Holly watched as the stumps formed into long, muscular legs and a pair of unusual looking feet. As such, the muscles from the monster's claws and front legs moved into the torso, thus causing the claws and legs to shrink. Instead of legs, Holly realized that they were now arms. And last but not least, the head began to alter. The larger bones fell from his face and the smaller ones adjusted into a smaller skull, and black strands of hair began to poke from the scalp.. And once the head was restored, the bloody body, now humanoid in it's appearance, changed colors. What was once red and brown was now blue.

_What in God's name...?_

Holly was rendered speechless. Her hands were over her mouth and her eyes were larger than ever. She couldn't move even if she wanted to, not even when this creature rose to his new feet. His black wings opened and flexed, and she watched as he lifted his arms out infront of him, seeing his newly restored arms and claws. His head lowered, looking at his new body, and then he turned around.

The creature looking right at her was completely different from the monster she saw before. Holly felt her heart pouding in her chest when his eyes met hers. For a long time, the two just looked at each other until Holly lowered her hands from her mouth.

"...An angel?"

At this, the winged creature smiled, then chuckled. He took a step toward her, but had no desire to invade on her personal space.

"Not entirely," was his response, and Holly's jaw dropped again. His voice was completely different from before. What was once gruff, harsh, and exhausted was now very smooth and soft, and hinted with an accent. "Do you remember when we spoke of the Ancient Vampires?"

Holly nearly collapsed at that comment. The Ancient Vampires. The ones who were Godlike. The ones who didn't drink blood. The ones who created the Pillars of Nosgoth. The ones who sent the Hylden away. But the oldest vampire, the last Ancient Vampire...

"Are you-?" before she could even get the question out, the winged creature moved his clawed hand to his chest. The attention drawn to his chest caused Holly to look, and she noticed a great amount of scarring.

_Over his... heart..._

"I apologize that I did not share my name with you, earlier. I am Janos Audron."

Holly remained shellshocked from all that had occurred. Janos could feel her confusion, her wonder, her suspicion, all at once. His reputation among humans was not the most flattering, and yet he could feel no sign of animosity from the woman.

"I wish to thank you for your efforts," Janos said, moving his wings as his spoke. "When the Builder's blood entered the Device, these machines were quiet frantic in their final moments of operation. You didn't need to leap to my rescue, you see... but I am grateful for the thought." his eyes moved over her face, then to her change in attire. Her poor condition was now restored, and for that he was happy for her. "You seem to be doing much better, yourself..."

It was one of the rarest moments in Holly's life. Being incapable to respond, having trouble processing one thought about all that had occurred. But for some reason, seeing the creature before her, angelic and holy in his appearance and stature, made her feel something completely unfamiliar to her. For the first time, she felt that there was perhaps an opportunity that Nosgoth could be saved. It was completely illogical for her to have such hope: the only word she had that Janos Audron wasn't the monster that plagued the human race centuries ago was his own. But there was something about him now, something that didn't exude manipulation or treachery.

Could it be possible that everything he had told her was true?

Her thoughts and feelings were interrupted at the end of a door opening. Both Holly and Janos turned at the sound, and watched as Kain returned into the chamber. Upon seeing the winged creature, he too froze in his surprise. Using his surprise to her advantage, Holly took the opportunity to pick up her weapons from the floor.

"What is this?" Kain asked, ignoring Holly's antics for the moment.

Janos chuckled at the vampire. "You do not know me for the poor, oppressed beast that crouched her before?" he asked, then opened his wings. "Behold, I am restored."

For some reason or another, Holly couldn't help but feel some amusement that Kain was just as surprised as she was.

"What are you?" he asked.

"Not _what_, Kain. But _who_." Janos corrected. "My visage is unknown to you, but my name is not."

The expression on Kain's face shifted. At first, he appeared suspicious, but for a moment Holly recognized a sense of awe from him. Clearly, the vampire knew exactly who this creature was, and seemed every bit as surprised to see him this way as Holly had been. Vampires truly had no idea what the Ancients looked like? Did they also expect Janos to be a dreaded, terrifying monster?

"But Janos is dead." Kain replied. "His heart was torn from his body."

"That's right!" Holly rose her voice, causing both vampires to look at her. Upon noticing her, Kain narrowed his eyes.

"Ah, splendid. You're still here." Kain purred. "I may still have the luxury of-"

"SHHH!" Holly hissed at him, catching the arrogant creature off guard. Becoming bolder, she took a few steps closer towards the Ancient Vampire, if only to observe his chest at a comfortable distance. "How are you still alive without a heart? How is your body even capable of coursing the blood if you have no heart?"

Janos opened his mouth to reply, only to see that Kain had moved closer. When there was no Ward Gate detected in the room, Janos realized that Kain might very well take the opportunity to strike at the human. Narrowing his eyes, the old vampire moved closer towards Holly. The human was taken aback by this gesture, even more so when Janos partially positioned himself between her and Kain.

"Now is not the time for that, Kain." Janos said, his voice stern. "To answer your question, I was not dead, but imprisoned here. My blood was needed to power the Device and feed the Mass within. Starved of blood and sapped of life, I devolved into that horrible creature. The moment you poisoned the Mass, I felt my strength return. That which is divine cannot be wholly suppressed."

Holly opened her mouth to protest once again_. Divinity is nice and all, but your heart... _

"Divine?" Holly groaned as Kain's voice interrupted her thoughts. "Your imprisonment has damaged your mind, Janos. The curse of vampirism is no mark of divinity."

Janos seemed to have noticed Holly's confusion. But for the moment, he would have to indulge Kain's curiosity. And so he began with the story he had told Holly earlier. About the Ancients and the war with the Hylden, how it lasted for a thousand years before the Hylden were defeated. He explained how the Hylden have control over the Sarafan, how the Sarafan Lord had brought them back to destroy the vampires. But then came a new part of the story.

"Now, we come to your part in this story." Janos addressed Kain. "When you chose to destroy the Pillar of Balance, you caused a rift throughout the world, sufficient to breach through the dimensions. It was in this way that the Sarafan Lord was able to enter the world, by building a magical gate. This is the Hylden Gate. Close this gate Kain, and all the Hylden within Nosgoth will perish."

"The gate sustains their existence?" Kain asked.

"Precisely." Janos nodded. "It is their umbilical cord to the other world. When it is closed they cannot dwell in our world."

"And so, all the Hylden will die, and the Sarafan Lord as one of them, dies as well..."

Kain's words somehow struck a cord with Holly. If the Seer was truly a Hylden, it meant she would die as well. Part of her, for some reason or another, was not all that thrilled with that realization. Although she never hoped to see that woman again, part of her suspected that some day she would need to return to her for information. But after a moment, she simply shook her head. To keep the other Hylden in the world alive for the sake of one was nonsense. If Nosgoth was ever to be saved, all of the Hylden, including The Seer, would need to die.

"And how is this to be done?" Kain inquired. This prompted Janos to close his eyes for a moment, as if his mind was searching for a memory long passed. After this moment of meditation, his yellow eyes reopened.

"Let us go to Sanctuary. Vorador must be informed of all that has occurred, and a plan can be drawn to finish this once and for all." was his response.

"Wait a minute!" Holly snapped. Since she was not crazy enough to move infront of Janos and therefore leave herself in the open for Kain, she made yet another bold move. Her hand grabbed Janos by the wrist and she pulled on him. This action surprised the Ancient Vampire, if only by Holly's brash approach to gain his attention, but he turned to face her.

"First of all," Holly snapped, "I am assuming that, in order to redeem myself, this means I will have to follow you to wherever it is you're going. But need I remind you that I am a Sarafan, and stepping into a vampire sanctuary, let alone one run by Vorador, is not on my agenda. I have lived through too much to resort to suicide. Secondly," Holly then pushed her index finger against his chest. "Divinity is a lovely thing, but it still doesn't answer my question from before. How can you live without a..."

Her rant was cut short, and it wasn't because of any outside interruption. It took a moment for her fingers to register that Janos had body warmth. This meant there was circulation involved. In her surprise, her hand moved to his chest and her fingers opened up over his scarred left pectoral.

_A heartbeat..._

She was gaping at the chest for a moment longer. For a moment she thought her mind was playing tricks on her, but his heart continued to beat from under her hand. Holly lifted her head to look up into his face. He seemed slightly impatient, but amused at her expression. Clearly this woman wasn't accustomed to being thrown for a loop in the middle of her theories. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You attempted to save my life, Lady Angela," he whispered to her. "It would be terrible manners on my part if I did not protect yours. If you come with us to Sanctuary, I promise you, you will be safe there. No harm will befall you." his head turned and he glanced at Kain. "The woman comes with us. And she is not to be harmed."

At that, Kain hissed at the creature. "Centuries without a woman has damaged your reasoning, Janos. There is no shortage of beautiful women in Nosgoth and you can certainly do better."

"Actually," Holly snapped, turning her head towards the vampire. "while I dread the thought of being surrounded by bloodsucking fiends, I have my own personal reasons that make me consider coming along with you both." she looked back at Janos. "I know how to stop the glyph energy from flowing into Nosgoth. This could make things potentially convinient for a time, but you will need to destroy the source of it all."

Janos looked back into her eyes. "You will come with us, then? To Sanctuary?"

To that, Holly leaned in closer and narrowed her eyes. "I have never placed my trust in a vampire. I am not about to start now..." she paused, having difficulty saying her next choice of words. "However... there is something different about you, and I feel you may abide by your word. But if we arrive in Sanctuary and a thousand angry vampires eat me alive, I promise on the lives of my children, I will haunt you and torment you for eternity, and you _do not want me as your poltergeist_."

Janos simply shook his head at her. He hadn't anticipated on meeting a human in this place, but meeting one such as her felt like a burden but a treat at the same time. Strange, though. With his newly restored body, mind, and sight, the human felt vaguely familiar.

"I have told you nothing but truth," was the reply. "I swear to you, no harm will befall you. Now... to Sanctuary."


	25. Chapter 25

**Lacrimosa**

When Holly agreed to come to Sanctuary, she was surprised that she didn't need to use the stone in order to travel there. Once she had agreed, strange light surrounded her, Janos, and Kain. Within moments, they had reappeared in what looked like a mausoleum: stone walls, underground, but very small in size. At first she thought Janos had made a mistake. She had always imagined the vampire's Sanctuary to be larger, like Vorador's manor, and this place felt more like a basement.

"Do I dare believe my senses? Janos! My sire, but they killed you!"

She turned her head towards the voice, and her heart skipped a beat when she saw the person whom it belonged to. There was no mistaking this place now. She knew _exactly_ where she was, and more importantly, who that creature is. The monster was almost seven feet tall, his large ears made him appear taller, and his green skin gave him away immediately. Standing before her was the vampire Vorador, scourge of the Circle of Nine and the father of Kain's vampire army.

_It was one of his disgusting children that killed Vladmir._

The thought sparked a surge of anger and out of reflex, Holly took aim at the vampire with her cannon. It didn't go unnoticed. Vorador turned his head towards the sound, and in unison, the rest of the vampires in the room did as well. Holly hadn't noticed them at first, but to her great misfortune, she found herself surrounded by several partially dressed female vampires, all of which looked ready to pounce.

_And these are his brides… though technically, if he sired them, aren't they his daughters?_ Her eyes looked to the vampiress with the least amount of clothes on. It looked as though she was ready to fall out of that outfit, and once she met Holly's eyes, she ran her tongue over her lips.

_Lovely family._

"And what is this?" Vorador spoke. His voice was low and threatening, and Holly could have sworn she saw his fangs extend longer. He moved towards her and before the human could respond, Janos calmly stepped forward.

To Holly's ultimate surprise, this stopped Vorador dead in his tracks.

"This is Lady Angela," Janos introduced her. His voice, though not threatening, was every bit as serious as Vorador's. "And she is not to be harmed. I gave the woman my word in exchange for her services."

"Lady Angela?" Vorador repeated, his eyes shifting from his maker to the woman. His yellow eyes narrowed on her, taking in her appearance. The long blonde hair, many curls, and while her face looked considerably younger, the scent of her blood gave away her age. "_Holly _Angela, is it?"

Holly's eyes widened in her surprise, but she quickly regained her composure. While it troubled her that this creature knew her name, she wasn't about to let him know she was intimidated. "Lady Angela will suffice, thank you."

This prompted an amused chuckle from the beast. It didn't take long before his eyes began to scan her body. Just the feeling of his eyes watching her was even to disgust her. Vorador's reputation with women was known throughout history, and it was discomforting to feel that he may very well be "undressing her with his eyes."

After measuring her up, his eyes then fixated on a hint of the blue hidden beneath her coat. He realized what it was right away, and Vorador then looked to Janos, then to Kain. Yes, this was the woman who took the stone from him. The fact that she arrived to Sanctuary with him, alive, with all limbs intact, and with the stone still in her possession, was enough to impress him.

As if reading his mind, Kain took the opportunity to break the silence. "Janos believes she'll be of some use to us," he crossed his arms. "Though I humbly disagree."

"Humble my ass," Holly snapped, and was soon met with a collection of giggles and laughter from the female vampires in the room. Holly moved her head to the side and noticed that every one of those vampires had their eyes on her. _Is lesbianism a key characteristic of all evil women? First the Seer, and now these strumpets…_

Kain, however, was far from amused.

"I have acquired another Dark Gift from the Eternal Prison. An old friend granted me the gift of Immolation. Should the human turn traitorous, she will be dealt with accordingly." he hissed, and Holly turned her attention towards him.

"Then, before I am dealt with, I'll be sure to put my cigar out on your _other _eye. To show my appreciation for all your hard work, of course."

"Enough!" with the exception of Vorador and Kain, the vampires in the room flinched at Janos' voice. Holly had even jumped as well. "We must put behind our personal grudges for the task at hand. None of us can afford to waste further time. Vorador," Janos turned towards the vampire, locking eyes with his son. "We need your counsel."

"Yes, Janos." Vorador nodded, then turned his attention back towards the human woman. "I assume you wish for the woman to stay?"

Janos folded his arms in front of his chest. "She is here to assist us. She would not have come here if it had been otherwise. If she is to trust us, we must put our trust in her."

This brought about a very uneasy, awkward silence within Sanctuary. When Janos scanned the room, he was met with a collection of annoyed and confused expressions. The brides looked quite disappointed, a look that Janos recognized from his own son whenever Vorador was cheated out of a meal or a plaything. Vorador himself looked more nuetral rather than approving. The idea of trusting a Sarafan would not sit well with him. Most unsurprising of all was the intense death-glare being exchanged between Kain and Holly. It lasted for a brief moment, but that moment spoke a thousand words. None of these vampires were ever going to trust her, and likewise, she couldn't find it in herself to trust them. Whatever shaky truce Janos had in mind, it wasn't going to go over well.

_Coming here was a mistake… well, if all else fails, you could always disappear._

With that thought, Holly's hand moved over the stone. Janos caught sight of her movement and watched her. Feeling his gaze, Holly turned her head towards him. He stared directly into her eyes, and under normal circumstances, Holly would have felt quite uncomfortable. But it was the same look he had given her from back in that room, when he promised to protect her.

_I hope he isn't full of empty words._

Reluctantly, her hand moved away from the stone and returned to its rightful place on her weapon. Janos smiled at her, then looked back to Vorador. "She stays."

Whatever silent conversation took place between his sire and this human, Vorador would never know nor understand. But if Janos wanted her here, he knew he could not refuse him.

"Very well." was the reply. With that, Janos began to talk.

"The Device has been destroyed, thanks to Kain," he began, gesturing to the young vampire. "But our troubles are far from over. You must believe me when I tell you your enemy, our _great enemy_, the Sarafan Lord, is one of a people that come from another world. His plan, beyond all others, is to bring this enemy race back into this world from which my kind, in another age, once banished them. He must be prevented, or all our kind will perish." he turned his head towards Holly. "And once the vampires are finished, the humans will undoubtably be next."

"What must we do, sire?" Vorador asked.

"He has created a base in this world." Janos continued. "The Hylden City, across the sea. There he has opened a gate to bring his kind into our world. My plan was to teleport us to the Hylden City, and launch a final assault on the Sarafan Lord, but now I find there is some kind of shield of magic that prevents me."

"Sheild magic?" Holly interrupted, and immediately felt all eyes on her. Ignoring the unnerving situation she now found herself in, she continued. "You're not referring to the Ward Gates again, are you?"

Janos shook his head. "While I am certain these gates exist within the city, this magic is stronger. And if we are to fight them, that shield must be destroyed."

"Vorador," Kain said as he stepped forward. "Where is the Hylden City? Have any of your spies brought you this knowledge?"

"Umah, what do you know of this?"

Holly rose her eyebrows as Vorador addressed another vampire. Her eyes fell on a female vampire, seperate from the brides, wearing a purple garb. The moment Holly laid eyes on the vampire's facial tattoos, she recognized her instantly. It was the very same vampire from the Sarafan Keep! The one she had spoke with when she was repairing the cell. The female vampire, or Umah as Vorador had called her, caught Holly's gaze for a moment, but did not address her. Instead, she answered her lord.

"There has been, in the past months, enormous activity at the Wharves. Warships, and freighters loading and unloading in great secrecy." she explained. "Our people who have infiltrated the area, and returned alive, have told me that the ships all seem to take the same course out of the harbor. But we do not know their destination."

"It must be the Hylden City!" Janos exclaimed. "Why else would there be such interest at this time?"

_The Wharves, _Holly thought to herself. The defenses there were the heaviest of all Sarafan outposts. As such, there was always a large amount of activity. Imports and outports were exchanged, war profiteering and arrangements between human colonies took place in the merchant shops and pubs, smugglers and thieves were discovered and dealt with, and occassionally a vampire spy had to be put down. It was a busy place, crucial to Meridian's economy, and so orders were followed strictly without error.

_It makes sense, then... the Sarafan Lord controls all of Meridian. If he had specific orders to deliver whatever it is he needs to and from this unknown location, who would oppose him?_

"What must we do?" Kain asked, turning to Janos.

"You must take a ship to the city at once." was the reply. "There you must find and deactivate the shield, so whatever forces we can bring may come to your aid and close the gate for all time."

"But there is a problem," the attention in the room returned to Umah. "The Wharves house the finest Sarafan warriors. Their security systems and defenses are the strongest in the land, and have increased with the capture and execution of our vampire spies."

"So, if we cannot lower their defenses, entering the Wharves will be a hopeless endeavor." Vorador mused. "And the sheild will be out of our reach."

"Ah... that is where our friend comes in," Janos said, then turned back towards Holly.

Again, all eyes were on her, and had Holly been a weaker creature, she would have fallen under the pressure of this moment. It suddenly became clear what was expected of her, why she was brought here to begin with. And she shook her head at Janos.

"No way." she said, glaring at him. "Put that thought out of your mind _right now."_

Janos sighed. He knew this was going to be difficult to ask of her. "If their defenses are strong, the Ward Gates and glyph energy are the reason for it. You told me that you can stop the flow of glyph energy from entering Nosgoth."

"No, Janos!" she snapped back. "Not that! I am not going to destroy their one line of defense so a massacre can happen!"

This outburst brought forth a collection of hisses from the brides and other members of the Cabal. In response to that, Holly released her hold on her cannon. The holster kept it from falling to the ground as Holly took the firethrower into her hands. As unpredictable as the weapon was, she knew she would have a better chance roasting more evil creatures with it then she would with a one-shot cannon. Vorador stood silent but firm, and Kain, recognizing the weapon she equipped herself with, prepared himself for yet another battle.

Janos, feeling the pure tension between everyone in the room, opened his large wings. He positioned himself between the hissing vampires and the stubborn human. The tension died down by the smallest fraction, but despite playing the "vampire sheild" for Holly, he refused to back down. "If you don't shut down those gates and cut the flow of energy, your people will be massacred regardless. By the Hylden. We spoke of this."

"You are not understanding me." Holly growled back. "My husband's comrades, my co-workers, men I have trusted with my very life, are in the Wharves. The very people I should be protecting! If I cut the power to their defenses and you send that _bloody imbecile_ in there-" at that insult, Holly's arm shot forward with her finger pointed directly at Kain, "all of them are going to die! Don't try to convince me that they won't!"

"If the witch refuses to assist us, then she has worn out her welcome. As if she hasn't already." Kain spat, flexing his claws and extending his fangs. "Stand asside, Janos! I hear a tongue that needs to be torn out."

And to that Holly shouted back to him: "Two-hundred-years old and you are still a stupid child!" she snapped. "What you heard was an accurate description of yourself and it's too painful for you to accept it!"

"I've had enough of this!"

Without further preamble, Kain kicked off of the stone ground and went flying towards Janos and the human. Janos, hearing the vampire from behind him, turned and with a powerful swing of his black wing, hit the vampire in midair. The strength of the attack took Kain completely by surprise as the vampire flew across the room and struck a stone wall. This was soon followed by yet another collection of hisses, though the brides were in too much shock to make a move. Janos made an about-face and flexing his wings, stood ready for combat.

"This meeting is over!" Janos snapped, his eyes fixated on Kain as the vampire recovered to his feet. The rage in his eyes was burning with the promises of pain to come. Janos knew it was best to just leave. "For now, my conversation with this human will be in private. Lady Angela!"

At the sound of her name, Holly jumped in surprise. She had been completely shellshocked from the event that had occurred. By attacking Kain, Janos had more than likely burned a bridge with him. What's more, he did it for her.

"We are leaving. Get us out of here." he snapped at her, and she noticed his tone was considerably unkind. Clearly, the Ancient Vampire was running out of patience.

Without hesitation, Holly reached out and touched Janos' back. The other hand gripped the Nexus Stone. _The Canyons._

The power of the Nexus Stone surrounded both of them. Within moments, they had reappeared in the misty Canyons of Nosgoth.


	26. Chapter 26

**Lacrimosa**

No sooner did they materialize in this location did Janos whip around to cease the human woman. With his great speed, tore the weapon from her hands and grabbed onto her arms.

"What are you-!" Holly screamed, struggling against his grip.

"Now listen to me, human!" Janos snapped, holding her in place when she tried to struggle. "I swore to protect you and I have carried out my promise. Though I am _not_ happy with the way you handled yourself back there. Nor am I pleased with the position you have put me in with my allies!"

"Funny how that tends to drive someone crazy, don't you agree?" Holly snapped back. She drove her knee upward in an attempt to hit him in the groin. Janos was quicker. He shifted so the knee struck his stomach, and then he rushed foward. To Holly's surprise, her back was shoved up against the hard, rocky wall of the Canyon. Surprisingly enough, it only caused her discomfort instead of any harm.

_"Don't test me."_ Janos growled, and it took a great deal of effort to keep him from baring his fangs. He knew if he did such a thing, there would be no way she could trust him, despite all he had done previously.

"Let _go_ of me!" Holly snapped. Because he was holding her by her biceps, she was able to move her forearms, and her hands lashed towards his face. Unfortunately her nails only clawed the air. When this didn't work Holly tried yet again to kick him away. Janos glared harder and pushed her up against the rocky canyon again.

"Damn you, woman!_ I am_ _not going to hurt you!_" he screamed, though it made little difference. She was struggling and thrashing about in his grip. Janos made a sound of annoyance before he simply dropped her. Holly realized when she collapsed on the dirt that he had actually lifted her off the ground.

_Serves you right for thinking for a second that you could trust a vampire, ancient or otherwise!_

Holly made sure that her cannon was still attached to her. For some reason or another, Janos hadn't ripped it away from her like he did with her firethrower. Then her hand moved to the Nexus Stone, finding it just where she had left it before. She glared up at the vampire and found him glaring right back at her. His wings twitched and fluffed in his annoyance, then he turned away from her. He had only managed to get about five steps in before Holly was back on her feet.

"You really have some nerve to expect that of me!" Holly spat. "I know if I had asked a vampire to help lower his defenses so a Sarafan army could annihilate his people, I would have been without a throat!"

Janos stopped in his tracks, but refused to face her. His silence only prompted another verbal lashing from the angry human.

"Theoretically speaking, Janos," she snapped. "What if my _family_ had been in the Wharves? Would you have expected me to go along with that little plot?"

"But your family is not there." Janos growled in response.

"That is beyond the point!" Holly screamed back and found herself stomping towards him. "How can you possibly expect me to turn my back on my own people!"

With that Janos whipped around, his wings flexed and his claws balled into a pair of uncomfortably tight fists. _"Because you want to save your people!"_

His response shocked her. Her first thought was that he insulting her intelligence, but the look of rage on his face seemed to completely contradict that theory. He moved towards her, but kept enough distance between the two.

"This is _war_, Lady Angela. You are the wife of a soldier. You should understand this better than most." Janos stiffened and the look in his eyes seemed to falter for a moment. Holly recognized this behavior from in the cell, when he was choosing his words carefully so as not to set her off. But he had more to worry about when he was defenseless in the cell. Now, he could easily attack her and she was well aware of it. "...You must consider that, should those few men in the Wharves die, the survival of your species will be garunteed. Vampires will not annihiliate the human race. The Hylden _will_."

"_All great movements require a few martyrs_. Is that it?" Holly growled. It took everything within her not to shoot him. "I will not be responsible for that martyrdom. You promised me that I would avenge myself. How would I be doing that by killing my own men?"

Janos rose himself to his full height. His golden eyes burned into hers. "Do not think for a moment that you are the only person who has ever lost your loved ones. Or that you are the only one to have ever regretted your actions and decisions." he placed his hand over his chest. Over the heart he was supposed to have lost, but was somehow there again. "I too, have felt the agony of bringing a man to his end. It was not intentional, he was not the man I thought he was, and he is gone because of my mistakes and misinterpretations. But... with his sacrifice, he brought us closer to victory."

His words were enough to calm her, if only a little. His solemn tone and the look in his eyes as he relived his moment of regret moved her. He was not lying to her when confiding this information, and part of her felt as though she was the first to hear of his regret.

"Who was he?" she asked. Her voice was agitated, but strangely sympathetic.

Janos lowered his head. "A redeemer, and a destroyer. A messiah, or so I had hoped. I led him to believe that he would be our savior... perhaps in a way, I was correct. Though it was not what I had imagined. Nevertheless, he had sacrificed himself, but with his end, we came closer towards restoration and deliverance."

It was so puzzling. Closer towards restoration? That could not be true. Every passing year, the land of Nosgoth withered away and died, as if the vampires were draining the life from the world itself. What's more, he spoke of a savior, a man (most likely a vampire) who sacrificed himself for the greater good. One would think that this story would have been recorded, but the story of the Ancients had been completely omitted from Nosgoth's history. It wasn't impossible for this story to be true, even if she had never heard of it prior.

"You doubt my words." Janos said, and Holly gave a very tired sigh.

"It is the most ugly feeling in the world, _doubt_..." she muttered to herself. "I used to be so sure of everything I planned to do. I'm so accustomed to knowing what I want, what's the right way to achieve it, and what will happen if I do. But I am going into this blindfolded. I have no idea if my decisions are right, and I don't know what the consequences of my actions will be. This is difficult for me, especially when I am expected to kill my own kind." she looked away from him and stared at the ground. "I cannot do this... not until I am certain that it will be for a greater cause."

Janos was silent. He knew, in one way or another, he would need this human's assistance if they were ever going to bring down the sheild. But she was never going to go along with this plan, not if it meant the death of those men. Even if he tore the Nexus Stone from her chest and left her alone in the Canyons, the Wharves would still be at it's highest maintenance. Kain would never be able to infilitrate the Hylden City. This woman was needed to stop the flow of glyph energy and bring down the Ward Gates throughout Nosgoth. And it would seem that she was ready to let the world crumble around her before she would turn her back on her Sarafan brethren. All would be lost.

Once more, for the greater good, Janos had to do something he did not like.

"There is a way to bring them back." he whispered, then glanced back at her. "This time, they will die. But in another time, it can all be undone."

Holly lifted her head so quickly that it made her dizzy. Janos had her attention. It was now or never.

"Throughout Nosgoth, there are chambers, created by the ancient Guardians of Time, that can take you forward and backwards in history." Janos moved towards her. "Should you do anything that you regret... I can show you where these chambers are. And you can fix your mistakes."

Janos realized that this was just as much of a risk as it was a lie. To gain access to even one of those time chambers would take a countless amount of time and effort for a human to accomplish. Even if by some miracle she made it to one of those chambers, a human wouldn't know how to adjust the chamber to bring her to the exact time that she desired. And then she would have to travel that great distance from the time chamber to the Wharves to prevent the deaths of those soldiers, which in and of itself would be an impossible task.

For Holly, her long dead (or so she hoped) naivety returned to her. This offer truly surprised her. She knew the existance of time travel was possible, but to be offered the chance to alter history brought a strange sensation of hope to her. And not only for the men destined to die at the Wharves.

_...Would it be possible to prevent Vladmir's death?_

But the simple thought of him rose her defenses. This was simply too good to be true. Janos had told her nothing but truth, and the time chambers were real, but she was going to need reassurance.

"Take me to one." she commanded.

"I shall, in due time." Janos lied. "But first, we must aid the Cabal."

"If we are going to a time chamber, then we are going to have plenty of time to help the Cabal." was Holly's response. "I want to know how it works. I want to know how to use it, inside and out."

She was not easily swayed. Janos realized that in order for this to work, perhaps he would need to make an arrangement.

"I will tell you the location of the time chambers now." he offered, "I will tell you how it operates after the mission at hand is a success."

Holly froze for a moment. This didn't sound right. Something about his relunctance was questionable. "Why not do it now?" she asked. "Then we can continue this mission afterwards, using the time chamber?"

Janos shook his head. "I need to know that you will do this. I must know if you will carry out your part of the deal. And once it is carried out, I shall take you to that time chamber."

_A fair enough reason... but I'm not sure..._

"...Show me where they are."

Janos stepped towards her. "So you will help us?"

She hesitated, then spoke again. "Show me where they are."

"You must agree to help us. Just as I gave my word to protect you, you must give your word that you will help us."

There was that uncomfortable silence. Making promises to a vampire was not something Holly was accustomed to. However, he had kept his part of the bargain. He kept Kain from killing her, and he didn't tear her to pieces in his anger. Perhaps she could trust him.

"I promise. I will help you."

Janos nodded to her, the slowly extended his arm towards her. Holly watched as his clawed hand moved to the side of her head, resting over her temple. Janos closed his eyes and concentrated, and suddenly it felt as though Holly was struck by a boly of lightning. Her eyes widened as the view before her melted away and she felt as though she was flying through Nosgoth's decaying landscape.

The first chamber lay within the ruins of what once was the Sarafan Stronghold.

The second chamber was found within the now decayed swamps of Termogent Forest.

The third chamber lay within a cathedral.

Suddenly, that familiar burst of adrenaline came bursting back into her and she was pulled back to reality. When she came out of her trance, she found herself staring back into Janos' face. He placed a hand on her shoulder, making sure that she didn't collapse or faint.

"Are you all right?" he asked. It took her a moment to return to her senses, but she nodded to him. "Now, we must shut down the Ward Gates. Do you know where to go?"

Again, Holly nodded. "It is in the Sarafan Keep. It will take some time for me to do it." she paused. "I should go on by myself. If you are found there,"

Janos slowly nodded. "I shall return to Sanctuary. But Lady Angela..." his hand moved from her shoulder and barely touched the Nexus Stone. "This stone is vital to the destruction of the Hylden, and of the Sarafan Lord. It must be in our posession before we enter the Wharves."

Holly's hand moved over the stone once more. Once upon a time, she stole the stone to keep it from the claws of the vampires. Now it seemed her efforts were in vain. In all honesty, she didn't want to give it to him.

_If this turns into something you will regret,_ she thought to herself. _It can be undone._

"Then I will return to Sanctuary with the stone... once I cut off the power to the Ward Gates."

Janos smiled at her, though his expression looked more bittersweet than joyful. Despite the fact that he never saw this woman until she stumbled into his cell, he couldn't shake the feeling that he met her once before, if only for a moment. And that only made him regret lying to her. Very slowly, he moved his hand over hers, feeling her tense at his touch, but not resisting when he moved her hand to his lips. Then he released her.

"Good luck to you."

_...Forgive me..._


	27. Chapter 27

**Lacrimosa**

_At my whim, the world will be healed... or damned. At my whim..._

It would only be right for her to be completely alone in her former sanctuary. This choice was hers, and hers alone. The light from the control panel casted a green hue across Holly's face. Not once did her eyes break away from the machine. Her heart and mind were at war, one thought clashing with the other, and all the while Holly knew that her decision was going to be met with terrible consequences.

_If I shut off the Ward Gates in the Wharves, those men are dead. _

_If I don't shut them off, everyone in Nosgoth is dead._

_If I help them, the vampires will finish us._

_If I don't help them, the Hylden will finish us._

Her teeth dug into her lips and her fingers twitched. It was time for another cigar. She had already gone through at least three of them. How long had she been standing here since she left Janos in that canyon? How long was this decision going to plague her mind before she finally made her decision? Under any other circumstances, a situtation like this could have at least ruined a decent night's sleep. But she had to make this decision _now_. She had to go over all the possibilities in her mind _right now_.

_If Kain destroys the Sarafan Lord, he will become the new king. Nosgoth will belong to the vampires once again and the humans will be at their mercy._

_And they have none._

_I swear upon my soul that every action I take until my very last breath will be to resist the oppressive hand of the vampire, and to aide in preserving the lives and freedoms of human race..._

The oath. An oath she made to her brothers and to Vladmir's name and spirit. The oath that saved her life when she went to trial. It felt as though years had passed since she spoke those words. Would helping the vampires destroy that oath? Would she be breaking her promise to the people she swore to protect if she helped Kain? Would she be breaking it anyways if she handed the humans over to the Hylden?

_It would seem, old girl, that you best focus on them. _

The humans.

Images built within her mind's eye of the Sarafan Keep after Kain's victory over The Sarafan Lord. History depicted Kain as one of the greatest and ruthless generals in Nosgoth. With nobody to lead them, the Sarafan would fall, followed by this keep. Any protection the humans had against the vampire plague would be crushed. Then the same thoughts replayed in her mind, replacing the vampires with her interpretation of a Hylden. If what Janos said was true, the Hylden would destroy everything: human and vampire alike.

Her shaky truce with the vampires was not built on trust. Her fear of the Hylden kept her from even considering the possibilities of negotiating some kind of treaty between the Hylden and the humans. Her real ally, the only ones she would ever have, would be with her own kind.

If anybody was going to need her help, first and foremost, it was going to be the humans.

For the first time, Holly lifted her eyes away from the machine. After inhaling the smoke, her head tilted back and she released it. A thick cloud of gray smoke lingered in the small chamber. She waited there for a moment longer before turning on her heel and exiting the small room. Stomping across her workshop, she made her way to her desk. She threw away every piece of junk that the new mechanic had littered her desk with and instead pulled out several large pieces of parchment. To her ultimate surprise, the old man hadn't thrown away her blueprints and plans for other weapons.

But it was not a weapon she was interested in.

After recovering ink and a quill, she sat at her desk and her eyes focused hard on the paper infront of her.

_Now, if there was ever to be a vampire holocaust, who are the people that you would want on your side? More importantly, which of those people would be willing to listen to you should you ask for their help?_

The smaller piece of parchment became a list of names. Names that belonged to close-friends and comrades of her husband. In addition to these soldiers, she included every single judge that declared her innocence during her trial. Each of these men were skilled warriors who survived both wars and ambushes. They knew how to command, lead, and protect, and they would take a human's word over a vampire's. Also, every one of these men had sons that were in some form of training if they hadn't experienced combat first-hand. She was going to need all of the warriors she needed, and while she preferred the more experienced ones, any man willing to fight for his life and the lives of others was more than useful for her needs.

In addition, she added Jane and Anne to the list. The Industrial Quarter clearly had it's share of traitors, but those two had remained fiercely loyal to her after her escape and had aided her in killing Sebastian. Also, they were skilled healers, and with a war would come the wounded. She was going to need doctors. With that in mind, she added the names of the doctors, nurses, and other healers she knew living in the Sarafan Keep. Also, she added the names of several blacksmiths she knew. It would be difficult to work without a forge of their own, but in order to survive she knew they would need to adapt to their surroundings. Weapons would be needed, and while she would do her best to perfect her new weapons, the soldiers would need the ones they were most familiar with.

It was at the point where she stopped writing. Her eyes shifted from one cornor of the lab to the next. In a great rush, she pushed herself away from the desk (careful not to ruin her drying list) and rushed towards her archives. To her great relief, they remained untouched by the old man and she found what she was looking for almost immediately. In order for her laboratory to meet her requirements, she had to hire some of the best carpenters from the Industrial Quarter. She held the resumes of the six men she had hired to create the very room she stood in. All of them knew how to operate and create machinery needed for factories and citadels, but they also knew how to create forts, houses, cathedrals, and other buildings similiar to this very keep. When she returned to her desk, she added their names to her list without a moment's hesitation.

When the list was completed, she picked up another piece of parchment.

_Now, apart from your family, who would need the most protection? _

For the sake of organization, she added the names of her family members to the list. Beneath them came the noble families, specifically the women and children, living in the Sarafan Keep. This was taxing, however. Vorador knew who she was before she had even met him, and she had never given her name to the female vampire that had been captured. That must have meant that there were spies for the Cabal within the Sarafan Keep. One infilitrator could destroy her plans entirely. She would need to think long and hard on the people she _knew_ she could trust.

But in the same respect, many innocent people would die, simply because of her mistrust.

Children, then? A war with vampires sparked the construction of three major orphanedges in each district of Nosgoth, minus the slums. There was still a chance for those young lives to be saved and she doubted that Vorador was desperate enough to resort to using children as spies. Then again, children with nothing would be willing to do anything for the promise of everything. Plus, it wasn't difficult to manipulate a child. That being said, if her paranoia is sound and Vorador used that approach, she would need to use an even stronger approach. Despite her suspicions, she was not about to let children die if she couldn't help it. That being said, the orphanedges were added to the list.

She waited until the completed second list had dried. Then, after going over all of the people she had wrote down, her mind raced again.

_Of the people who need the most protection, who are the ones you can get to the fastest?_

Everybody in the Sarafan Keep were obviously nearby. With the Nexus Stone, she could reach Jane and Anne without much trouble, as well as the orphans. But her thoughts carried her to the places such as The Lower City, The Smuggler's Den, and The Upper City. Besides the late tapster, she did not know many people in those places, and if she did, her mind was unfortunately drawing blanks. With the Cabal using human rebels against the Sarafan, it was difficult to determine who would be loyal to the human race and who was loyal to Vorador.

Once again, many people were going to die because of her mistrust. Others were going to die simply because she did not know them. Fate had dealt her a terrible hand, and she was going to have to make the best of it.

_How much time is this going to take? How much are you going to need?_

She was planning an exodus. Her list was of all of the people she wanted to save, and while some would be easier to rescue than others, she knew this was not going to be easy. There were going to be questions. People were going to need time to pack what little they needed and be convinced to leave their homes. And what's more, she needed to think of a place for them to live after they had been relocated. Where could they possibly go that would be safe from the vampires? What place had the resources they needed to survive? How would they get there? How would they live? Would they last long at all?

This amount of planning would take at least a few days. She would have to do it in one night, at the very least.

And even then, would they listen to her? Would they believe her? What would she even tell them? What could she say to get them to follow her?

_Since you're already delaying one major decision, you may as well keep focusing on this one. _

"Right..."

Taking out another piece of parchment, Holly picked up her quill. At the very top of the parchment, she wrote:

_**THE HUMAN CITADEL**_


	28. Chapter 28

**Lacrimosa**

Janos's return to Kain and Vorador was not the most pleasant of occassions. Shortly upon his arrival, Janos had to duck under a swipe to his face from Kain's clawed hand. Rather than countering the attack, Janos kicked off the ground, leaping backwards at a safe enough distance. Though it was not his intention to fight, his wings and muscles were tensed should Kain continue the assault. Vorador, on the other hand, did not keep his annoyance a secret.

"Kain!" the vampire hissed, fangs exposed. Upon his reaction, the brides in the room immediately shifted their bodies in Kain's direction. If he were to attack their leader, they would have no choice but to defend him.

"He trusts a human's word over that of his own kind!" Kain snapped, pointing directly at Janos. "And yet this act of treason does not seem to phase you, Vorador."

"I put my trust in my sire and know better than to question his motive." was the hasty response. Despite the firmness of his child's tone, Janos could tell that there was some doubt in Vorador's statement. "If you so much as lay a hand on him-"

"You will _what?_" at that, Kain turned his attention completely onto Vorador. The tension in the room, strong as it already was, increased within seconds. Vorador's muscles flexed just as every bride in the room drew their fangs and claws. "Do you so wish to return to your grave, old friend? You are in no position to challenge me."

"You _dare-!"_

"That is enough!" with that, Janos took a step forward. "We are in no position to be fighting amongst ourselves. We may as well be slitting our own throats."

The truth of his words did not sink in just yet. The eyes of all the vampires, save for Kain and Vorador, fell onto him. Janos could feel their doubt just as he could feel the brewing hatred between Vorador and Kain. Everybody in this very room had wholeheartedly believed that he had made the wrong decision in trusting that human woman. This was not the homecoming he had expected.

"She will return to us," he reassured. "I have made her an offer that she could not refuse. In time, you will see that this was the right decision."

With that statement, Vorador shifted his eyes towards his sire. His entire body was still tense; if Kain was still going to attack him, he wasn't about to relax. "Sire, surely you realize that once the woman is without the stone, she will no longer be of any use to us."

"Is that how you repay those who help you?" was Janos's response. "Is it really your intention to kill her the moment she hands us our very salvation?"

"_Salvation._" Kain snarled. "The witch would rather our kind be wiped from this dying world. We owe her nothing."

At that, Janos glared hard at the creature before him. If this being was to be Nosgoth's savior, his hope was greatly shaken by the fact. "If you are to kill her, there is nothing I will be able to do to stop you. At the very least, save your petty revenge for after our battle with the Sarafan Lord."

In that instant, Kain's body shifted away from Vorador and turned to face Janos. The vampire approached him, his fingers curled into tight fists. Although his demeanor was threatening, Janos did not feel that Kain was going to attack him. When the younger vampire was standing at least a foot away from the ancient, he leaned his face in close to Janos. His eyes were burning with an unspeakable anger.

"If that human does not return, you have doomed us all," venom dripped with every word he spoke, and Janos could feel the very hatred radiating off of him as he continued, _"And I will kill both of you."_

* * *

Using the Nexus Stone, she transferred herself from her laboratory into her former quarters. The room had remained untouched and perfectly intact, as if she had never left it at all. This had actually surprised her: if she had been branded a traitor, the contents of her room would have been removed completely and another person would be living there. Keeping the room and it's belongings intact was the sign of someone who had died honorable, either in battle or in some noble manner. It would stay this way for at least a year in the deceased person's honor before the contents were auctioned off and the room was prepared for a new owner.

_He made it look like a vampire attack. A terrible accident... does that mean that they do not hate me?_

"The judges saved my life... I was at their mercy."

_...But they will hate me if I kill our men... Hylden or no Hylden, their blood will be on my hands..._

With a glare, she shook her head and proceeded to the wardrobe. "I'll worry about this for now..."

As the Seer had made her appearance much younger and healthier, Holly assumed that fewer people would recognize her here. After undressing, she pulled open the doors of the wardrobe and pulled out a fine, green gown. It was modest and would cover her scarred arms, chest, and neck, though it looked a tad old-fashioned for her new rejuvenated features. Still, she looked uncharacteristically lovely in it. Given her occupation, she never had an opportunity to dress particularly ladylike. She doubted that many people would recognize her in it, especially when she decided to wear a rather unflattering bonnet over her hair. As long hair was no longer in the fashion, she would stick out like a sore thumb.

Before leaving her room, she opened a small box on her dresser. It contained a variety of cosmetics that she never had much time to put to use. There was no need to make herself look lovely if she was only going to be covered in grease, soot, and sweat afterwards. It was a rare occasion for anybody to honestly see her wear the make up. Perhaps it would add to her disguise. Within moments, her cheeks were rosy and her lips were a dark wine color. She barely recognized herself when she looked in the mirror.

_The last time I remember looking like this was on my wedding day..._

It was not the last time she had worn make up, nor was it the last time she made an effort to make herself look lovely, but the memories of her on her wedding day came rushing back to her. The ceremony, with all the Sarafan Knights and their wives present. The swords, the flags, the shining armor, and her groom's gentle smile. His face was forever etched in her memory: those intense, dark eyes, his olive-toned skin, his wild black hair, his beard and moustache that always scratched her when he would kiss her. In the past, she would always scold him for not shaving it off completely. Now, she would give anything in the world to feel it again.

_If I go through with this... I will be turning on him and everything he fought and died for._

That horrible stab of betrayal was one she could not shake. She had given her word to Janos that she would help him under the terms that he would help her undo their deaths. But the blood of those soldiers would be on her hands. Realistically speaking, how would Kain even begin to infiltrate the Wharves without killing them? There was no way she could evacuate the Wharves in time, and even if she could persuade them to issue the order for an evacuation, many soldiers would stay their ground out of their own code of honor.

_But if you don't do this... the Hylden will take over..._

At that thought, Holly turned away from the mirror. Her hands cupped around the Nexus stone. The true power and value of this stone came into full realization for her: she had in her possession the key to both salvation and destruction of three species. This choice, as hard and as horrible as it was, was hers and hers alone. The stone was what kept her alive and what kept her valuable to the vampires, yet it marked her for extermination.

She stared down at the stone, seeing her reflection on it's blue surface. The face of a younger woman, beautiful yet troubled, strong but tormented.

_...You know what you have to do._

She released her hold on the stone. Moving over to a coat hanger, she pulled a very long cloak from it and threw it around her. In a hurry, she rushed towards the door and exited her room.

* * *

Four days had passed.

The ward gates were still operational.

The security at the Wharves had doubled, if not tripled, in that time.

Holly never returned to Sanctuary.


	29. EPILOGUE

**Epilogue**

Much had happened over four days. It was, without any doubt in her mind, the most difficult endeavor of her life.

Every memory of the past four days rushed through her mind as she stepped into the Time Streaming Device. Nobody had recognized her when she walked through the Sarafan Keep. Because she was so unfamiliar, it rose suspicion and it didn't take long until a soldier approached her. All she had to do was drop the name of a judge and she was brought to him. Holly was still in utter shock that the judge not only believed her story, but assembled the other judges from her trial to hear it.

Would they believe her? She was taking a risk in putting so much faith into this decision. She was, after all, telling these men to openly disobey and defy their commander. This was an act of treason, punishable by death if they were to bring her before The Sarafan Lord. But upon seeing her alive, and after hearing the story of her torture and failed execution at the hand of Sebastian, their inner conflict was short lived. Rumors of a political killing had circulated among the soldiers, though nothing was confirmed by the Sarafan Lord. He had told them that she had died in the Industrial Quarter when the explosion went off, and yet here she was. He had lied to them about a great many things, and if he could put the wife of any loyal Sarafan knight through such horror, these men knew any one of them could be next. Indeed, the men who saved her life had come through again.

_It was our own fault for trusting someone who was not human. He may have helped us win the war, but we should have suspected that we would be next._

It took them hours to go over her plans, to discuss who could and could not be trusted. They were playing God with their own people, picking and choosing who would live and whose lives were just left up to chance. The harsh reality of this situation weighed down on her shoulders as they progressed through the list. Half of the people she had listed were recently detained for associating with vampires. Of those, a third of them confessed to being spies for Vorador and were to be executed.

_If you would have trusted them with this information, everything could have been ruined before it even went into action... _

She really couldn't have done it without them. She wrote her plans, but they had put them into action. Everybody who needed to be evacuated had been, from the trusted families within the keep, to Jane and Anne and the orphans she had listed. Because traveling by train or carriage would take longer than they could afford, Holly relied heavily on the Nexus Stone to safely and quickly transfer everybody to Magdalena's home. While it came to a shock for most of the men and women in her group, she discovered that this was not an uncommon form of transportation for most of the soldiers who accompanied the Sarafan Lord on missions.

_Eight judges, six of Vladmir's former comrades and their famiiles, ten soldiers, their families, five healers, Anne, Jane, their families, the mechanics and workers they trusted from The Industrial quarter, their families as well, three orphanages, filled with at least thirty children each, all showing up at Magdalena's home. Needless to say, Mircea was very unhappy._

This all happened in such short notice. She remembered Magdalena's horrified expression when she saw what resembled a small village infront of her home. It was difficult for her to take everything in all at once. First her sister's family magically appeared in her home over night, and now her mother was back with a small army. That was the least of her worries: the worst part was being convinced to leave her home and come with them.

_The last time my daughters looked that devastated was when we had to bury their father. Now I'm telling them that they have to leave everything behind them and come with us, to some remote location, live in some ruins hidden near The Lake of the Dead, hopefully reconstruct it all one day, because if they stay they will die._

During her meeting with the judges, she was provided with a map of Nosgoth. Rumor had it that there were hidden ruins near the Lake of the Dead, surrounded by water channels, rivers, and waterfalls that kept it safe from any vampire. Holly took the opportunity to travel there with the Nexus Stone before the evacuation of the Sarafan families was put into action. The rumors proved to be true, but the fortress was in bad condition. It would take at least thirty years for an entire team to restore it. Even longer with the few workers she had with her. But for now, it was remote, far from Meridian, and rarely anybody knew of it's existence.

It wasn't perfect, but it would have to do. If it would keep her family safe, and if it could shelter the only men left who could protect the human race in Nosgoth, it would have to do.

The planning and the relocation had taken two whole days. Everybody had to carry everything they needed and leave behind everything else if it meant their survival. Food and drink needed to be rationed, and there was no telling what they were going to have to do to survive in this new sanctuary. It was asking a lot. She knew this, and it was made even more apparent on the third day when this small group had to take refuge in these cold ruins. Nobody was happy with this decision. They all wanted to survive, and there was no telling what was going to happen to the ones who could not be saved. Holly could see the resent in their eyes. She might have had their best interests at heart, but she had robbed them of everything they ever had. The nobles were mingling with commoners, those who once had plenty now had close to nothing, and it was all because of her plans.

But she could deal with it. Their resentment would have been nothing compared to what they would feel if they knew she had been conspiring with vampires. Or if she carried out her promise to Janos.

_And then I gave Mircea my plans._

The letter was addressed to her daughters, but she left it near Mircea's hand as he slept. It was her future plans for the Human Citadel. She had made alterations now that she had seen the ruins for herself. She also made special requests for all able bodied men and women, as well as all of the children, to be trained by the Sarafan soldiers. Whatever was going to happen after these next few days was anybody's guess. They all had to be prepared to fight if the battle was brought to them. Today's infants would need to be tomorrow's soldiers. She had bought them time, but someday their enemies would find them. Vampire or Hylden.

_And then I said goodbye._

There was no explanation for her disappearance. She did not want to tell them all that had happened to her, or the deal she had made with Janos. Perhaps someday she would come back and tell them everything. Perhaps then, things will have changed for the better. After a silent farewell to her family, and after coming to terms with the fact that she may never see them again, she used the Nexus Stone's power to take her to the Time Streaming Device.

She had visited the other ones in Termogent Forest and the cathedral. Both were sealed closed and without some form of magic, Holly could not gain access to them. Much to her relief, the Time Streaming Device in the ruins of the Sarafan Stronghold was open to her. Perhaps the Timestreamer believed that the device was already heavily guarded within the fortress. If she was to come across him in Nosgoth's past, she may have to thank him personally for such a decision.

This was going to be dangerous. The patterns along the walls were unfamiliar to her and the controls were unlike any she had ever seen in her life. The knobs and orbs along the walls seemed to follow some kind of pattern, but she did not know how they should or could be adjusted. In the center of this strange device was a large transparent orb with two handles on either side. She assumed that using this strange device was what would essentially move her through time and space.

She was acting on blind faith again, and she didn't like it this time around either. It was no consolation that she was essentially breaking her deal with Janos. He had gone through such lengths to ensure her safety. It was no easy task convincing Vorador to trust her actions, and yet here she was, breaking that trust.

_You would have been dead to them the moment you handed over that stone. You know this. Kain and Vorador do not share Janos's honor. Forget about them. They made the mistake of leaving the stone in your possession and as such, it is yours to do with as you will._

Still, she considered herself a woman of honor. He expected her to make a sacrifice for the greater good. It was a sacrifice that was too much for her to cope with. Still, she told him she would do it. Perhaps someday, she would be able to put things right.

Her hands rested on the handles of the Time Streaming Device. She didn't bother to mess with the strange symbols and knobs on the wall. As she had no idea what they were for, and as she was risking everything by being here to begin with, she would just have to deal with whatever was in store for her.

_You realize that without the stone, The Sarafan Lord cannot be defeated. The Hylden Gate will not be closed. Nosgoth will be left wide open for an attack. Should you really do this?_

Although her children were safe, would they be safe for long? Could she really gamble with the lives of her daughters and their families like this? This was a chance for a new throw, a _better_ throw at Nosgoth's destiny. She had her weapons, knowledge, skills, and experience on her side. If this device were to take her into Nosgoth's history, perhaps she would have the best chance of changing things for the better.

But if she failed, not only would she never be able to come back, but the future could be changed for the very worse.

"I will do what must be done. For my girls... for the humans... for Nosgoth. Vladmir, give me strength."

She twisted with all of her strength. The orb shifted to the right and was stuck fast. Sparks flashed from within the orb, then expanded out towards Holly. The last thing she remembered was being lifted off the ground.

**To be continued.**


End file.
